Amazing,Sunset,At,A,Crop,Circle

Crop Circles: What's Fake, Real, and Questionable?

Crop circles are incredible pieces of art. While some think...

Closeup,Macro,Big,Drone,Bee,In,Honeycomb,Male,Bee,With

The honey you enjoy with breakfast or tea required the selective, brutal killing of an entire class of bees. Worker bees systemically evict each and every drone bee at the beginning of winter. These workers make sure all, and I mean&nbsp;all, of the drones die. Workers ensure this drone death by biting drone wings off and dragging their brothers out of the hive. Why would worker bees be so awful to their own brothers? &nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1433362262-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903453"/><figcaption>An artistic example of the three kinds of honeybee varieties. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Art-Design-Studio">ArtoPhotoDesigno Studio</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-the-honeybee-caste-system">The Honeybee Caste System</h2>



Not all honeybees are created equal. There are three kinds of honeybees; the queen, the worker, and the drone. Each type of bee performs its own function, which is crucial to the continuation of the hive. Interestingly, all three types of bees, even though they are very different, are part of the same species.&nbsp;Apis mellifera, or the western honeybee, is the typical bee raised by beekeepers in the U.S. There are a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mysterious-origins-of-western-honey-bees-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">handful of other honeybee species</a>. All honeybee species have a similar caste system.



<h3 id="h-the-queen-bee">The Queen Bee</h3>



Surely you have heard of the all-important queen bee. Layer of eggs! Controller of the hive! Queen bees enjoy enormous power within their colony. Each colony has just one queen. This queen lays (almost) all of the eggs in the entire colony. She decides what ratio of workers to drones she wants.&nbsp;



The queen lives inside the hive. A typical queen will make only one flight out of the colony in her entire life. More on that "nuptial flight" later.&nbsp;



If a hive needs a new queen, workers will select a larva in a queen cell and feed it royal jelly. This will turn an ordinary worker larva into a queen.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-the-worker-bee">The Worker Bee</h3>



The worker bee is the bee you see on the day to day. These bees are all female. They gather pollen from flowers, produce honey, clean the hive, and mercilessly kill their drone bee brethren when the time comes. The vast majority of bees in a colony are worker bees.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1904344906.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903454" width="500" height="334"/><figcaption>Can you tell the difference between the workers and the drones? Hint: drones have much larger eyes. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/vera2">Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-the-drone-bee">The Drone Bee</h3>



The drone bees are the male honey bees of the hive. Drone bees have just one major purpose; spread the genetic seed from their colony far and wide. Drone bees' only purpose is to mate with other hives' queens. This is important because a drone successfully mating with a different colony's queen is the only way a colony can ensure their genetic material survives into the future. However, as we will see, drone bees are really just sperm vessels. They sadly don't get to make their own choices, plan for the future, or see their own children.&nbsp;



While hives may have thousands of workers, the number of drones will be in the low hundreds.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1581150907.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903455"/><figcaption>The brood cells with exposed honeybee larvae will soon be capped by worker bees. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/kosolovskyy">kosolovskyy</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-a-quick-bit-on-honeybee-reproduction">A Quick Bit on Honeybee Reproduction</h3>



A queen bee has tons of eggs and sperm inside of her. She stores the eggs and sperm in different internal compartments and can choose when to use each. Drones come from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, meaning they only have one set of genes from the queen. When the queen wants more workers, she opens up both chambers and lays fertilized eggs. The queen lays these eggs into brood cells, which are the cells of the familiar honeycomb pattern.&nbsp;



Honey bees begin as eggs, turn into worm-like larva, transform into pupa, and then finally into adult bees. Each hexagon can house one honeybee larva. Worker bees feed the larvae until the larvae are ready to turn into pupae. When they are ready to pupate, worker bees seal up the top of the brood cell and let the larvae transform in a private chamber. Because drone pupa are larger than worker pupa, the seals on their brood cells is raised slightly higher than the top of the honeycomb. These brood cells are called drone cells.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_643911313.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903456"/><figcaption>Honeybee larvae grow in their honeycomb brood cells. The sealed cells have pupa. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/vera2">Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-varroa-mites">Varroa Mites</h3>



If you're a beekeeper, you surely know about varroa mites. These mites live in bee colonies and can destroy the colony at a high enough density. Drone's take more days to pupate than worker bees. Varroa mites prefer drone brood&nbsp;cells to worker brood cells because the mites have more time to reproduce.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-drone-bees-begin-their-life-in-spring">Drone Bees Begin Their Life in Spring</h2>



When spring comes around, drone bees eagerly burst out of their sealed-off brood cells as fully formed, adult drones.&nbsp;



Drone bees are mostly useless. In fact, they often need female worker bees to bring them food so they don't starve. &nbsp;These drones lay low for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441913/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441913/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">about 12 days</a>&nbsp;as they gather up energy and let their reproductive organs mature. After the drones have gotten used to their new, adult bodies and packed on some weight, they are ready to mate.



A drone bee typically&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441913/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">only lives about 20 days</a>, but can occasionally live up to 60.



<h2 id="h-mating-the-ultimate-drone-bee-experience">Mating: The Ultimate Drone Bee Experience</h2>



Successful mating is the highest aim of a drone bee. Unfortunately, only 1 out of 1000 drones mate with a queen. What happens to the other 999? More on that sad story later...



Following cues unknown to science, drone bees gather in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybee-drones-have-congregational-sites-for-mating/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">drone congregation areas</a>&nbsp;while they wait for the arrival of a queen bee. A congregation area is a space of air, usually 30-120 feet above the ground, where drone bees gather to wait for a queen.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybee-drones-have-congregational-sites-for-mating/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Up to 10,000 drone bees</a>&nbsp;from up to a hundred different colonies gather at the same congregation area. This mixing from different colonies ensures that the queen will receive a large variety of genetic diversity from males.&nbsp;



Scientists have found that honeybees will use the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3635128/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">same drone congregation areas</a>&nbsp;year after year. This is odd since none, since all of the drones are new to the world and haven't been to the congregation area before.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1907514187.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903457"/><figcaption>Worker bees wish their queen (with the dot on her back) the best of luck on her nuptial flight. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/vera2">Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-the-queen-bee-s-nuptial-flight">The Queen Bee's Nuptial Flight</h3>



A new&nbsp;queen bee doesn't have any sperm to fertilize her eggs. Fertilization is necessary to make worker bees, and therefore essential to the continuation of the colony. When the virgin&nbsp;queen is ready, she departs from the hive on her nuptial flight. On this nuptial flight, a queen seeks out a drone congregation area. Once there, the drones intensely pursue the queen in a desperate attempt to mate with her. Drone bees have extra large eyes so that they can detect and follow the queen when she arrives.&nbsp;



A queen mates with up to 20 drones, at which point she considers herself sufficiently inseminated for the rest of her life. She will fly back to her hive, likely to never see the light of day again.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1560317594.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903458"/><figcaption>Two bumblebees mate. While bumblebees are a different species from honeybees, the mating visual is similar, except honeybees would be airborne. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/utilityimage">utility image</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-the-unexpected-consequences-of-mating">The Unexpected Consequences of Mating</h3>



So the few 'lucky' drone bees successfully mate with a queen. Do they get to revel in the fact that they beat out 99.9% of their drone peers? They sure don't!&nbsp;



You've likely heard that a bee can only sting once and dies shortly thereafter. Any honeybee that stings is a worker bee. When worker bees sting, they rupture their abdomen to release the stinger. This causes their death.



In contrast, drone bees don't have stingers. Instead, they have penises. The drone bee is so desperate to inseminate the queen that he inverts his entire reproductive system from inside his body to outside his body when mating. This force helps push the semen into the queen. As a result, a portion of the drone bee's abdomen is ripped away from itself as it falls away from the queen bee. The drone falls to the ground and bleeds to death, similarly to how a worker bee who used her stinger dies.



That's the fate of the&nbsp;lucky&nbsp;drones.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-a-drone-bee-who-has-failed-can-try-again">A Drone Bee Who Has Failed Can Try Again</h3>



Just like human-made drones, drone bees have a surprisingly short flight time. They can fly about 20 minutes before they must return to the nest and refuel. If a drone doesn't successfully mate on a flight, they will continue trying until there are no longer queens looking for mates. &nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1269380515.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903459"/><figcaption>A pile of dead drone bees outside of the entrance to a colony. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/christening">Lipatova Maryna</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-drones-who-don-t-mate-are-killed-by-worker-bees">Drones Who Don't Mate Are Killed by Worker Bees&nbsp;</h2>



The 99.9% of drone bees who don't mate also have unfortunate deaths. Those who die away from the hive have it much better off than those who survive to the end of fall. Once the temperature in the fall drops enough, the queen tells to worker bees to evict all the drones from the hive.&nbsp;



No bee mating happens in the winter. A drone bee's only purpose is to mate. Therefore, the drones have no purpose in the winter. Why would the workers want to feed their precious resources to keep their useless brothers alive all winter? Well, they don't!



Instead, the worker bees drag each drone bee out of the hive. Since drones are slightly larger than workers, multiple workers gang up on a drone to drag it out of the hive. The workers then proceed to bite off their brothers' wings, push them off the hive, or do any other brutal act necessary to rid the colony of these useless bees.



Worker bees will even evict poor larval drones. So sad!



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_1425748982.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1903460"/><figcaption>Bees gotta do what they can to keep their hive healthy. Can you blame them? <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/christening">Lipatova Maryna</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



If we don't impose our own human emotions and experiences onto these bees, we can instead see the drone eviction as merely a necessary part of insect communal living.



<h2 id="h-bee-conservation">Bee Conservation</h2>



While drone death is a natural part of the bee lifecycle, there are plenty of unnatural threats to bees across the U.S. The widespread and increasing use of pesticides is a major threat to bees, contributing to colony collapse that has killed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/40-percent-honeybee-colonies-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">40% of honey bee colonies</a>&nbsp;in a single year. About one third of the types of food we eat is directly pollinated by bees.&nbsp;



In addition to honey bees, native bees like bumblebees struggle with habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. Buying food grown without pesticides, pressuring elected officials to curtail pesticide use, and educating your friends and family about bee conservation are ways to aid the efforts to keep our food-producing insect friends healthy.



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.

Welcome to the Dystopian Life of a Drone Bee

The honey you enjoy with breakfast or tea required the...

The,Mother,Earth,,Against,The,Background,Of,The,Star,Sky,

The History of Earth in Exactly 2000 Words

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No, the Vampire Squid Isn't As Scary As It Sounds

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” begs the Vampire...

Drainage,Divide,,Water,Divide,,Ridgeline,,Watershed,,Drainage,Basin,,The,Hydrology

Everyone lives in a watershed and everyone's drinking water comes from a watershed, so it is important to know a little something about this exciting concept. &nbsp;



<h2 id="h-what-is-a-watershed">What is a Watershed?</h2>



A watershed is an area of land where all water that falls on that land drains to a single point. A watershed is also a drainage basin, where all water flows downhill towards a river, lake, or other body of water. The land that drains to a watershed is called the catchment area. High ridges divide watersheds since water that falls on one side of the ridge&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/explaining-watersheds-with-9-examples/" target="_blank">drains to a different place</a>&nbsp;than water that falls on the other side of the ridge.&nbsp;







For example, all the land that drains water towards the Mississippi River is in the Mississippi River watershed. This watershed is the largest in North America. Can you believe that 31 states have land that drains towards the Mississippi!



While the Mississippi is the largest watershed, it is made up of many other sub-watersheds. The Arkansas River watershed is a smaller part of the larger Mississippi watershed. The Arkansas drains parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Other major rivers, like the Ohio, Missouri, and Platte, all have their own watersheds within the larger watershed of the Mississippi. Diving even smaller, each creek and stream that flows into the Arkansas or Ohio rivers is its own smaller watershed.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_1964845897.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1902382"/><figcaption>Various illustrations that visually demonstrate drainage basins. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Amadeu+Blasco">Amadeu Blasco</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-what-s-your-watershed">What's Your Watershed?</h3>



Can you figure out the watershed you live in? Start by locating the largest watershed and work all the way down to the smallest one. For example, if you lived in downtown Denver, Colorado, you would be in the massive Mississippi watershed, the big Platte River watershed, the moderate South Platte River watershed, and the small Cherry Creek watershed.&nbsp;



Bonus: can you figure out what watershed your tap water comes from?



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_1675839565-1024x653.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1902383"/><figcaption>A map of the major watersheds in the continental U.S. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Rainer+Lesniewski">Rainer Lesniewski</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-western-states-could-ve-been-defined-by-watersheds">Western States Could've Been Defined by Watersheds</h2>



John Wesley Powell, the first person to lead a boat trip down the entire Grand Canyon, was a scholar of the American West in the late 1800s. He wanted western states' boundaries to be the boundaries between watersheds. He thought that this arrangement would result in better water management in a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?West" target="_blank">generally arid landscape</a>. Unfortunately for the watersheds, Powell's idea was not adopted. The northern border between Idaho and Montana follows a watershed boundary, but that's it! While the borders between California and Arizona are the Colorado River, that is not a boundary between two watersheds. Rather, that border just splits one watershed up.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/powellsmap-800x1024.jpeg" alt="western watershed map" class="wp-image-1900830"/><figcaption>John Wesley Powell's map of western watersheds. Each color blob shows what Powell would've liked to be its own state. Photo via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Water_Sheds_of_Arid_Region_of_United_States_by_John_Wesley_Powell.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wikimedia</a>. </figcaption></figure>



Dividing arid watersheds between populous states has created immense difficulties. The Colorado River now faces huge water problems between the seven states that compose its watershed. In short, each state has overclaimed how much water it can draw from the river. When added up, the total amount of water allowed to be drawn between the seven states is about twice the annual discharge of the entire river. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming now must make tough choices about how to divide up a resource that is much smaller than any of them planned for. Had politicians followed Powell's guidance, perhaps the management of water resources like the Colorado would make more sense. &nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_199194950.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1902385"/><figcaption>The Little Colorado River, true to its name, has very little water for how much land it drains. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/antonfoltin">LHBLLC</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-what-affects-how-much-water-a-watershed-produces">What Affects How Much Water a Watershed Produces?</h2>



Many factors influence the volume of water that exits a watershed. Some very small watersheds produce copious amounts of water. The Elwah river on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state discharges an&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.clallam.net/environment/assets/applets/W18_2.4-ElwhaRiver.pdf" target="_blank">average of 1500</a>&nbsp;cubic feet of water per second. A cubic foot is about the same size as a basketball. The Elwah's watershed is&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.clallam.net/environment/assets/applets/W18_2.4-ElwhaRiver.pdf" target="_blank">just 320 square miles</a>, or about the area of New York City. In contrast, the Little Colorado River watershed, which drains northeastern Arizona, has a flow of just 432 cubic feet per second even though it drains over 25,000 square miles of land! That means the Elwah watershed produces almost 300 times more water per acre than the Little Colorado. Why is the Elwah so much more productive than the Little Colorado?



<h3 id="h-precipitation-and-watershed-area-are-major-factors">Precipitation and Watershed Area are Major Factors</h3>



One obvious factor that impacts this difference is a drastic difference in precipitation. The Little Colorado drains arid, desert lands, while the Elwah drains lush rainforests. Land area is another basic factor in watershed productivity. A watershed with a larger area and the same annual precipitation will discharge more water than one with a smaller area.&nbsp;



&nbsp;However, precipitation and the area of the watershed are not the only factors that impact the productivity of a watershed.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_1089481091.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1902386"/><figcaption>A diagram that illustrates how water infiltrates into a groundwater aquifer. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/stihii">stihii</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-infiltration-evaporation-and-transpiration">Infiltration, Evaporation, and Transpiration</h3>



Infiltration is the ability of water to sink into soil and aquifers rather than running off into rivers. Soil, vegetation, and rock composition all affect the infiltration capacity of the land. More vegetation, for example, will slow water down as it moves across the landscape. This slower-moving water is more able to seep into the ground. If the geology allows, this water can eventually seep into underground aquifers instead of running out to the sea. The easier it is for water to infiltrate the soil, the less water makes it to a river.&nbsp;



Evaporation is when water changes from a liquid to a gas. If it is hot outside, water is more likely to evaporate into the air. When rain evaporates on the land, it doesn't run into rivers.&nbsp;



Transpiration happens when plants use water as they photosynthesize. When plants use water, they subtract the water they use from the discharge of the river of the watershed they are in (with some cool exceptions, like how the&nbsp;<a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2608/new-study-shows-the-amazon-makes-its-own-rainy-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon creates its own rain</a>).&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-water-use-by-humans">Water Use by Humans</h2>



Human uses of water change how much water flows through a watershed. In water-rich areas, the water use by humans is minimal compared to the water nature provides. However, in drier regions, rivers are usually used heavily. The Colorado river is utilized so much that it fails to reach the ocean. Humans take every drop out of the Colorado until there is no river left. Most of the human water use is for animal agriculture, crop agriculture, and industrial applications. A small amount of human water use is done by individuals. In California, a very populous state, urban areas use&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/" target="_blank">only 20% of human water use in the state</a>.&nbsp;



Another major human alteration to watersheds is dams. Nearly every river has a dam on it, and most rivers have multiple dams on them. There are&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/dams/#:~:text=As%20of%202019%2C%20there%20are,once%2Drural%20dams%20and%20reservoirs." target="_blank">almost 100,000 dams</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. alone! Dams regulate the flow of rivers, typically to be more predictable than the flow would be otherwise. The reservoirs created by dams change the character of a watershed immensely.



Humans have fundamentally altered some watersheds, such as the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.inyowater.org/documents/reports/owens-valley-water-history-chronology/" target="_blank">Owens River</a>&nbsp;in California. Historically, the Owens river drained into an inland lake on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. In the early 1900s, Los Angeles built an aqueduct to transport the Owens river to satisfy Los Angeles' growing water needs.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_1231977907.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1902387"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/MichaelVi">Michael Vi</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-urban-areas-change-wateresheds">Urban Areas Change Wateresheds</h3>



Urban areas drastically change watersheds, also. Humans replace soil with square miles of hard surfaces, like concrete and asphalt. When it rains on these surfaces, the water that would've soaked into the ground instead runs across parking lots, streets, sidewalks, and basketball courts towards storm drains, sewers, or river channels. These storm drains, along with stormwater runoff, carry urban pollution to creeks, rivers, and the ocean. Cities are trying to reduce the problems associated with impervious surfaces, such as concrete, by creating rain swales, making more parks, and educating the public about storm drains.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-watershed-and-pollution">Watershed and Pollution</h3>



Since watersheds concentrate water to a single point, watersheds also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protecting-lake-erie-from-agricultural-runoff/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">concentrate any pollution</a>&nbsp;that water carries to that single point. Often, fertilizers, pesticides, and sediment from agricultural fields runoff into rivers. This runoff causes all sorts of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/why-is-the-nitrogen-cycle-so-important/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental issues</a>. Government agencies monitor water quality and use that quality as an indicator of watershed health.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-read-more-about-water">Read More About Water!</h2>



Water is the building block of all life. If deserves your attention. If you're interested in watersheds, there's no lack of material. There are so many interesting books, <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/explaining-watersheds-with-9-examples/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">articles</a>, videos, and podcasts about watersheds and how humans use water. Learning about your own watershed it one of the best ways to become connected to the place you live. 



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.

What is a Watershed? Am I In One?

Everyone lives in a watershed and everyone's drinking water comes...

Deep-sea,Stingray

70% of the world's surface is the ocean - and much to the horror of humans through the millennia, scary sea monsters are actually a real thing. They prowl the vast waters of our globe and emerge with terrifying results in stories - and real life.&nbsp;



From the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, from the North to the coast of New Zealand, there are fascinating sea creatures that strike fear into the hearts of the bravest explorers and threaten the most unsuspecting coastal tourist. At the same time, these scariest sea animals are wonderful, enchanting, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sea-vents-are-favorable-to-the-formation-of-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">living examples of evolution</a>, adaptive behaviors, and thrilling possibilities within nature.&nbsp;



Perhaps that's why they play such a massive role in our collective imaginations as well: the Kraken of Nordic sea lore, the loch ness monster of Scotland, the Lukwata sea monster of Uganda. The list of fables, legends, and sea shanties is as deep as the deep-sea waters where some monstrous animals swim. Science is just beginning to catch up and we can look to organizations like NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) and others for emerging information on the truth behind the scary stories.&nbsp;



So let's dive in: today we'll look at the ecosystem of the ocean - the playground and habitat of an estimated one million animal species - and rip through some flash-points of the scariest swimming creatures among the masses. We'll also look at the ways in which the changing, warming oceans make even the most fearsome creatures vulnerable to disturbance and possible extinction. Scary stories abound!&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-an-ecosystem-of-monstrous-proportions">An Ecosystem Of Monstrous Proportions</h2>



When you think about it, the ocean itself is a bit of a monster - a living, breathing system of giant proportions.&nbsp;



For example, most life on earth is aquatic. Less than 5% of the oceans have been explored. The longest Mountain range is underwater. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://kealakai.byuh.edu/twenty-fun-facts-about-the-ocean" target="_blank">70% of the world's oxygen</a> - a fiendish amount - is produced by the ocean. The pressure on the seafloor will crush you. 90% of the Earth's volcanic activity happens in the ocean and the <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@-18.57813014,147.57013641,-41.94434357a,0d,60y,201.23400896h,83.69613794t,0r/data=ClUaUxJNCiUweDZiZGYxNDQ2ODIyYzcxM2I6MHgxOTJhNTc0MTM2ODMzY2RhGXLEtTV9STLAITRUe8dfdmJAKhJHcmVhdCBCYXJyaWVyIFJlZWYYASABIjAKLEFGMVFpcE5ZdE5CTzd6bi01bGxXVzNEbGxTbGtxRHAxS0FTaGM4Q1JvZWR2EAU">great barrier reef</a> of Australia is so massive it can be seen from the moon.&nbsp;



The stats continue on in epic, sublime ways: the largest blue whale on record is as long as an 11-story building. The rounded sound ever recorded was of an iceberg falling into the ocean - and could be <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://kealakai.byuh.edu/twenty-fun-facts-about-the-ocean" target="_blank">heard 3,000 miles away.</a> The ocean exists as a living fossil of itself, providing important clues and records of sea animals what has occurred on planet earth. It contains limitless secrets for us to slowly piece together, like a salty sea foam puzzle.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_1137771782.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900841"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/posteriori">posteriori</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-some-specific-scary-sea-monsters">Some Specific Scary Sea Monsters</h2>



There are plenty of secrets of the monstrous seven seas that we have yet to understand. But there are plenty of real-life sightings to send a shiver-of-a-jellyfish sting up your spine.&nbsp; The depths of the ocean are where mysticism meets horror movies - and the surface is by no means safe, either.&nbsp; Read on for a thoroughly-inconclusive list.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-box-jellyfish">Box Jellyfish&nbsp;</h3>



Box Jelly is especially scary because to encounter a box tentacle is usually a death sentence for a human being. Named for their shape, they are considered the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/box-jellyfish.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most venomous animal</a> in the ocean according to NOAA.&nbsp;



Their tentacles are loaded with poison darts known as nematocysts. People and animals that encounter these booby-trap-laden strings can become paralyzed, have heart failure, and die within minutes. There are 50 or so species of box jellyfish, and only a couple have the venom count to kill people. Those species are found in the Ind-Pacific region and Australia. Terrifyingly, they do not live in deep water but are a coastal species.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_68332459.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900842"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/lienkie">Daleen Loest</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



Yes - box jellyfish live up to the hype. We often do not live up to their tentacles. Avoid these sea creatures at all costs.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-frilled-shark">Frilled Shark</h3>



The frilled shark is what many scientists consider a "living fossil" with its strange lizard-like head, ruffled throat, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-frilled_shark.htm" target="_blank">long body, and tiny fins.</a> It definitely looks a lot like how a "sea serpent" of folklore is described. While it doesn't exactly add validity to stories like the Loch Ness monster or the Midgard serpent, it does have an "enchanting beast" quality to its appearance.&nbsp;



Frilled sharks rarely swim up to surface waters. Instead, they are a species of shark that moves through various life cycles in the area of the ocean known <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-frilled_shark.htm" target="_blank">as the "twilight zone". </a>Want to take a look at another "living fossil" of the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/everything-youve-wanted-to-know-about-deep-sea-fishing/" target="_blank">deep sea</a> with an unnerving smile? Check out the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877998" target="_blank">Goblin Shark.</a>&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-1">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



No - these sea monsters just look scary. They are active predators but pose no threat to humans.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_134776526.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900858"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/demarfa">Natursports</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-fangtooth-fish">Fangtooth Fish</h3>



Fangtooths have a look that will haunt your dreams - and will continue to inspire the art-imitates-life-forms of various installations and horror films. It has <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/5-strangest-deep-sea-creatures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">razor-sharp teeth of terrifying lengths</a> - perfect for catching prey such as fish and crustaceans.&nbsp;



They are deep-sea swimmers along with Anglerfish. Their habitat ranges in tropical and temperate seas <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/fangtooth" target="_blank">at 1,640 to 6,561 feet deep.</a>



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-2">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



No - these fangtooths live so deep, they pose no threat to us - just the other animals that they feast and hunt for.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-viperfish">Viperfish&nbsp;</h3>



Another fish with an appearance that can absolutely give you nightmares is the viperfish. It's a broad title for any species of marine fish in the genus Chauliodus. These species are characterized by needle-like teeth and hinged jaws that will remind you of an underbite.&nbsp;



These are also deep-sea swimmers. Similar to other species living in the dark depths of the ocean, they lure in their prey with <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article-abstract/1/3/113/1696037" target="_blank">light-producing organs called photophores.</a>



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-3">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



Nope - again, these fish swim so deep that they pose no risk to us.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Giant_squid-1-1024x921.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900860"/><figcaption>Specimen of giant squid nicknamed&nbsp;Wheke&nbsp;plastinated&nbsp;from 2005 and displayed on 26&nbsp;March 2008 in the&nbsp;Grande galerie de l'Évolution&nbsp;of the&nbsp;muséum national d'histoire naturelle&nbsp;in Paris. Photo via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Natural_History,_France#/media/File:Giant_squid.jpg">Wikipedia.org</a>.</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-giant-squid">Giant Squid</h3>



Indeed, the giant squid is much more than a fictionalized creature in the lake on the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry grounds. The giant squid is a real-life animal and the second-largest mollusc we know of in Earth's history. It is an excellent example of deep-sea gigantism, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://daily.jstor.org/why-deep-sea-creatures-get-weirdly-giant/" target="_blank">a phenomenon and zoology term</a> that describes species of animals that are significantly larger than their shallow-water cousins.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Why is this? <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3838549?mag=why-deep-sea-creatures-get-weirdly-giant&amp;seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McLain et al.</a> propose that "limited resources [in deep water] select for larger body sizes that can better withstand periods of famine or ability to cover larger distances in search of scarce prey."&nbsp;



In 2019, a giant squid sighting was documented <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/science/giant-squid-cephalopod-video.html" target="_blank">on video near the Gulf of Mexico</a>, reigniting the public's fear and fascination. In this instance, the squid was only a juvenile but was still an estimated 10 feet long.&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-4">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



<a href="https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/science/colossal-squid/difference-colossal-squid-giant-squid-octopus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Squid and octopus</a> (giant, or otherwise) are formidable fighters. While they do not typically attack humans, they are well equipped to defend themselves if they feel threatened.



<h3 id="h-vampire-squid">Vampire Squid</h3>



A name worthy of a horror movie in and of itself, the vampire squid is indeed a real-life thing - - a sea creature that is actually quite small with an intriguing appearance. It's scientific name&nbsp; is Vampyroteuthis infernalis. It lives in tropical and temperate waters in areas identified by "extreme deep-sea conditions". It is the only known survivor of the order Vampyromorphida and is a species that produces bioluminescence.&nbsp;



The arms of this squid will <a href="http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vsfh.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regenerate if bitten or ripped off.</a> Often, the discarded limbs then act as a diversion for the vampire squid to escape. It's a defense mechanism that is equal parts scary and amazing.&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-5">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



According to NOAA, vampire squids are not even slightly dangerous to humans - they simply live too deep for us to encounter them.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/shutterstock_390021130.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900862"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Martin+P">Martin Prochazkacz</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-great-white-shark">Great White Shark&nbsp;</h3>



One of Finding Nemo's charming villains with a soft side, the Great white shark is no stranger to our psyches. Horror stories, films, and encounters abound.&nbsp;



These monsters are a species of large mackerel shark found in the coastal waters of all major oceans. It's only predator in the wild is, occasionally, the killer whale.&nbsp;



While scientists explain that humans are not the "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090426174140/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0123_040123_tvgreatwhiteshark.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preferred prey</a>" of the great white shark - it's just that these creatures are curious, and are willing to take a taste test. Not a comforting thought for surfers and swimmers, to say the least.&nbsp;



Similar to the drama around bears, lions, and tigers on land, the idea of a shark attack ends up being much bigger, culturally, than the actual risk. For example, there were <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">8 reported shark attacks in 2021</a>. For some context, over 40% of the world's human population lives in coastal areas. These attacks are exceedingly rare.&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-is-it-actually-dangerous-6">Is It Actually Dangerous?</h4>



Even if these attacks are more rare than we might realize, there's no doubt about it. Great white sharks are dangerous animals.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-protecting-our-sea-monsters">Protecting Our Sea Monsters&nbsp;</h2>



Of course, the scariest story of all the scariest sea monster stories are the monstrous implications of human impact on our oceans, coastlines, and fragile marine ecosystems.&nbsp;



In addition to warming water and unknown impacts on deep sea migration and global currents impacting weather, there are the immediate crises that our societies must address.&nbsp;



<a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/beach-dangers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Contaminated water</a> from oil rigs, untreated sewage, boats, pets, broken septic systems, and fertilizers accumulate in the ocean. People become outraged when their favorite swimming beach is closed due to dangerous contamination - and yet, the companies and public industry responsibility is rarely held accountable or reformed in a sustainable way.&nbsp;



The same goes for the terrifying amounts of plastic in our oceans, in the bodies of the animals that live there, and of course, <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/beach-dangers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in our own systems.&nbsp;</a>



And of course, there is a lot of conversation about the fishing industry - much overdue - and the ways in which extractive and exploitative fishing methods ravage the populations of tasty fish, <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral-overfishing.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">and demolish additional species</a> habitats and behaviors in the process.&nbsp;



Scary sea creatures are impacted by all of this of course - along with the more beloved marine-dependent creatures that whole throngs of people identify with - like sea turtles, dolphins, lobsters and other crustaceans, Giant Isopods, crocodiles, and oh so many species of birds. There is an endlessly nuanced web of life that depends on healthy oceans. All of it, ourselves included, depends on our ability to shift our own species' behavior. Either we do so or we are the true monsters.



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.

Scary Sea Monsters That Are Actually Real

70% of the world's surface is the ocean - and...

James,Webb,Telescope,In,Outer,Space,On,Orbit,Of,Earth.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has lifted off! It's an exciting day for the <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/space-exploration-progress-impact-forecast/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">space enthusiasts among us</a>. And even if you aren't as well versed in space exploration and discovery, the Webb Telescope has exciting potential that will impact all of us here on planet earth. News outlets have described the telescope's journey as a quest "to the edge of time itself" and scientists eagerly anticipate new data about the birth of the universe as the telescope flies into action.&nbsp;



Today we're going to take a look at the details of the James Webb Telescope, what scientists anticipate this technology can accomplish, and what it might mean for us back here on Earth's surface as we navigate challenging times on both global and local scales.&nbsp;



For as vast and expansive as our home galaxy is, our connections to each other and the questions that inspire these pursuits define our species and illuminate critical information and survival - on this planet and beyond.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-the-james-webb-telescope">​The James Webb Telescope</h2>



The James Webb Telescope (JWST) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViXoWdbF-Ys&amp;ab_channel=SciNews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched on Christmas morning</a> - December 25, 2021. At the same time when many children around the globe rushed to see what Christmas presents had landed from Santa in the night, the JWST lifted off from the Ariane 5. The launchpad is part of <a href="https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/npr-news/2021-12-25/nasa-just-launched-the-most-powerful-space-telescope-ever-watch-it-here" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Europe's spaceport located in Kourou, French Guiana</a>. The rocket ignited and sent the telescope rocketing out of our atmosphere and into space. "We are expecting to see the light from the first galaxies that formed some 100 [million], 200 million years after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/what-are-the-theories-of-the-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Big Bang</a>," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said<a href="https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/npr-news/2021-12-25/nasa-just-launched-the-most-powerful-space-telescope-ever-watch-it-here" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> in a recent briefing</a>.



<h3 id="h-the-big-picture-behind-a-powerful-telescope">The Big Picture Behind A Powerful Telescope&nbsp;</h3>



NASA developed the JWST in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA). The intention behind the JWST is that it will succeed and expand the Hubble Space Telescope, which has enchanted scientists and children alike for <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/space-telescope-launched-on-daring-quest-to-behold-1st-stars#:~:text=Hawley%2C%20in%20fact%2C%20is%20more,vision%20from%20a%20defective%20mirror." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the last 30 years.</a> The Hubble telescope succeeded in determining the age of our universe (13.8 billion years). It has helped scientists to discover two moons around pluto. The images from Hubble contributed to calculations on how fast the universe is expanding. It illuminated that almost every galaxy we have so far discovered has a black hole, anchoring its center. The JWST is the next step in these significant leaps in <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/cosmology/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our cosmic understanding</a>.&nbsp;



Even though JWST is intended to <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/hubble-captures-the-development-of-baby-stars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supersede Hubble</a>, it is actually only<a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> half the size of the older space telescope</a>. However, Webb's primary mirror is over 6 times larger than Hubble's. The mirror is <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">21 ft in diameter</a>. Made of gold-coated beryllium reflector, it has 18 hexagonal mirrors. Scientists have designed the Webb Telescope in this way to provide improved infrared resolution of images and will also empower an exciting amount of new investigations in the fields of astrophysics, astronomy, and cosmology.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1060652471.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900282" width="500" height="282"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/NASA+images">NASA images</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-design-elements">Design Elements&nbsp;</h3>



A critical design element of the telescope is its sunshield. The sunshield is important because the mirrors must be cold and out of the sun's heat. It is designed to always block the mirrors from the sun, moon, and earth and will <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/sunshield.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">passively radiate</a> the telescope's heat into space. The shield is made up of 5 layers. Each successive layer is cooler than the last. The vacuum created between each layer functions as insulation - which disrupts the conduction of heat better than a single, large layer. Overall, the shield will protect the telescope so that the sensitive scientific instruments will be better able to detect infrared light from <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/sunshield.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">very distant and faint objects.</a>&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-the-instruments">The Instruments&nbsp;</h4>



The <a href="http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/MIRI/miricooler.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM)</a> is the telescope's framework. It incorporates four scientific instruments as well as a guide camera. The four instruments are: the NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) which is an infrared imager; <a href="https://sci.esa.int/web/jwst/-/45694-nirspec-the-near-infrared-spectrograph" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectrograph)</a> will also perform spectroscopy over the same wavelength range; <a href="https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/miri.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument)</a> will measure the mid-to-long-infrared wavelength range from 5 to 27 μm; and <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/fgs.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FGS/NIRISS (Fine Guidance Sensor and Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph)</a> - which will stabilize the light of sight of the telescope's observatory.&nbsp;



There is also <a href="https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/bus.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a "spacecraft bus"</a> - a term which, if you grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s, may remind you of Mrs. Frizzle and her magic school bus, but is actually in reference to the primary support component of the telescope which will provide computing, communication, electrical power, propulsion and structural parts to the telescope as a whole.&nbsp;&nbsp;



These scientific instruments and frameworks add up into an incredible piece of space technology. This technology enables ongoing and yet-to-be-determined investigations and explorations that will include some very far-reaching elements of our universe. But what is it that we're hoping to find in the far reaches of space, exactly? Aliens?&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-what-scientists-hope-to-find">What Scientists Hope To Find&nbsp;</h2>



When Homo sapiens look up into the sky, we tend to ask big questions. What we seek up there in the stars can be an ineffable quandary - but it can also be a scientific hypothesis. Telescopes have already empowered us to learn so much about our solar system. From the Aztec star charts, <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/modeling-the-cosmos/galileo-and-the-telescope" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to 1600's Netherlands</a>, to Galileo, and up to today, these discoveries have shaped our species and planted seeds of cosmic curiosity.



With the James Webb space telescope launch, there is a continued legacy of hopes, dreams, hypotheses, and explorations that become possible to undertake for us as a species. There are big questions to pursue - as has been true in every decade of our evolution.&nbsp;



Examples specific to this telescope launch include the formation of first galaxies and the potential identification of habitable exoplanets and their atmospheres. We might be able to glimpse the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59782057" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first stars to light up the universe.&nbsp; </a>The telescope will be able to observe <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-webb-will-join-forces-with-the-event-horizon-telescope-to-reveal-the-milky-way-s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">black holes and quasars</a> with unmatched sensitivity and detail - possibly revealing the mysteries of their complex structures.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/dec/24/bill-nelson-nasa-administrator-interview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nasa administrator Bill Nelson</a>, JWST has the potential to "open up the secrets of the universe".&nbsp; It can sound like a sci-fi novel to the uninitiated - but it is real life, in the real world, floating in a real universe and fascinating mystery and astronomy principles. The first images from the Webb telescope are expected to arrive <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-webb-telescope-launches-to-see-first-galaxies-distant-worlds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in summer 2022.</a>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_751195177.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900283"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/sadovskivadim">Vadim Sadovski</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-who-is-james-webb">Who Is James Webb?</h2>



Obviously, the stakes are quite high as is anticipation. While we wait for the images of the telescope to come in, maybe we can take the time to ask: who is James Webb? And why did NASA and global collaborators choose to name this incredible telescope after him?&nbsp;



Webb ran the fledgling space agency, NASA, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/whoIsJamesWebb.html" target="_blank">from 1961 - 1968</a> and is most linked to the Apollo space program of that era. To many, he is a government figure whose work balanced human curiosity and space flight with science. According to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/whoIsJamesWebb.html" target="_blank">NASA's online site</a>, Webb "did more for science than perhaps any other government official and that it is only fitting that the Next Generation Space Telescope would be named after him". There has been controversy over Webb's legacy and potential involvement in<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/summer/lavender.html" target="_blank"> the "lavender scare"</a> that took place in NASA's history - an assault on LGBTQ workers of which there is a continued need for reconciliation. NASA declined to change the name.&nbsp;



When NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe announced the name of JWST, he explained that "[James Webb] took our nation on its first voyages of exploration, turning our imagination into reality."



<h2 id="h-space-science-and-travel-in-the-time-of-coronavirus">Space Science And Travel In The Time Of Coronavirus&nbsp;</h2>



It is a striking moment in history. A telescope that can reach the ends of time, named for a man whose life work was dedicated to human curiosity and potential, launched on Christmas day in the midst of a harrowing global pandemic. 2021 was a year characterized by misinformation, ghastly politics, and crumbling social structures that we all depend upon - and also, apparently, hope and optimism via telescope. It's a lot to take in.&nbsp;



The questions surrounding how we use our resources and who gets to decide is an emotional debate. We do not all agree and acute crisis surrounds all but the luckiest of our species. Billionaire business owners launch themselves into space while their workers contract a deadly virus from working in warehouses for wages that do not cover even the most basic living expenses. Where do space travel and space science fit into all of this? Especially when a project like JWST comes at a high cost, of course. The commissioning cost for the telescope swoops in at a whopping <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/25/science/webb-telescope-cost.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">8.8 billion dollars - so far.</a> Our dominant culture is coming around the fact that our resources are not infinite. Our planet has limitations that will demand our adherence, one way or another.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1558058690.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1900284"/><figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/DimaZel">Dima Zel</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-in-conclusion-a-big-beginning">In Conclusion, A Big Beginning&nbsp;</h2>



The Webb Telescope isn't some impulsive whimsey of spending and space colonization. This technology has been in the works since the 1980s. This telescope and observatory have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the universe - and better inform our understanding of how our planet and our species fit into that cosmic web.&nbsp;



And boy, do we ever need some perspective. As the omicron variant rages through our communities we will all answer these philosophical and tangible debates according to our lived experiences and value systems. Maybe the James Webb Space Telescope, in addition to illuminating certain astronomy and cosmology theories, might also apply to our mundane, everyday lives. What does it mean to turn our imaginations into reality? How might our own planet look if we were able to cultivate connective relationships and a shared curiosity?



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.

Lift Off! The James Webb Telescope Is Headed to Space

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has lifted off! It's an...

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It’s Too Late: The 6th Mass Extinction Is Here

Here we sit, with our lattes and AirPods, during the...

Dinosaur,Fossil,(tyrannosaurus,Rex),Found,By,Archaeologists

The Chicxulub disaster marks one of Earth’s greatest mass extinctions in which an asteroid hit the Gulf of Mexico, devastating the planet. Known best for being the downfall of the dinosaurs, the Chicxulub impact crater is one of the largest craters in the world. The date of impact has been memorialized by a thin band of clay surrounding layers in the Earth’s crust called the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Separating the Cretaceous period from the Paleogene, this crater signifies more than just a flip of a calendar. The apocalyptic events that transpired have been documented in the rock layers around the globe, just waiting for a geologist to uncover them. Here, we dive into the causes and the fallout of the disaster.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-what-caused-the-chicxulub-diasater">What Caused the Chicxulub Diasater?</h2>



As we examine the most monumental moments in Earth’s history, we can’t jump in our time machines and zoom back 65 million years. To understand the cause of the Chicxulub disaster, we turn to chemistry, geology, and paleontology. To start, let’s get out the periodic table because the entire theory behind the Chicxulub disaster has a chemical foundation.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-volcanoes-vs-meteorites-competing-theories">Volcanoes vs. Meteorites: Competing Theories</h3>



Physically, the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary is delineated by a thin band of clay, unique to the geologic layers above and below it. The clay demarcation has an unusually high concentration of the element iridium. In fact, the K-T boundary has <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1,000</a> times more iridium than all the oceans! While rarely found in the Earth’s crust, both meteorites and the Earth’s interior are iridium-rich. The prevalence along the K-T boundary led geologists to two predominant theories. Either the band formed during a worldwide cataclysmic volcanic eruption or from an extra-terrestrial source. Luckily, thanks to scientific advances, more evidence quickly made itself apparent, and the iridium pendulum swung toward outer space.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1221183757.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1899747"/><figcaption>Examples of rock cores used for geological study. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/smile+plus">smile plus</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-the-chicxulub-crater">The Chicxulub Crater</h3>



The discovery of the Chicxulub impact crater advanced the conversation around the K-T boundary. First noted off the coast of Haiti, several clues on the seafloor helped push the dialogue to support the meteor theory. Physically, the crater spans 93 miles across and 12 miles deep, the impact zone is buried underneath the Yucatan Peninsula off the coast of Mexico.&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-shocked-quartz">Shocked Quartz</h4>



If a giant depression in the Earth’s crust isn’t enough to convince you of a meteor impact event, there’s more geologic evidence that goes hand-in-hand. This time, instead of an other-worldly element, an uncommon form of a very common rock raised the red flag. Quartz is a mineral found all over the Earth. Rosey, smokey, clear, or opaque, quartz crystals have a varied but predictable diversity. Each quartz molecule is made from one silicon atom and two oxygens. Normally, these molecules arrange themselves in a regular lattice. However, when hit with absurdly high pressure and temperatures, quartz gets a bit funky. Undergoing a series of phase transitions, shocked quartz has a <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/news/meteorite-strikes-may-create-unexpected-form-silica" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">disorderly structure</a>, with lines of molecules intersecting at irregular angles. Unsurprisingly, an expedition of geophysicists with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) discovered shocked quartz in the rock core around the Chicxulub crater at the K-T boundary!&nbsp;



In conclusion, Given the prevalence of iridium, the large impact zone, and the correlation with a layer of shocked quartz, scientists believe that a meteorite caused the Chicxulub disaster and created the K-T boundary.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1452445010-1024x596.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1899748"/><figcaption>The K-T boundary is a geological marker of the Chicxulub Disaster. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Captain+Cobi">Captainz</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-the-chicxulub-meteor">The Chicxulub Meteor</h2>



Where did the meteor come from? Looking at celestial patterns, physicists have also developed a theory about the origins of the meteor in question, and it looks like we have Jupiter to blame. The giant planet has a proportionally giant gravitational field. Every once in a while Jupiter pulls debris from the Oort cloud at the outskirts of our solar system and whips them toward the center, called a “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sungrazing-comet-may-have-caused-dinosaur-extinction-event/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sungrazer</a>.” In astronomic terms, “every once in a while” means every <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/new-theory-behind-asteroid-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">250-730 million years</a>, so we don’t have to worry about a similar event any time soon. Subsequently, the tidal force of the sun breaks the meteors into smaller pieces and increases their speed.&nbsp;



As luck would have it, one of these pieces hurtled toward the Earth over 60 million years ago. An estimated six miles in diameter, the asteroid hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in a <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/regional-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">100 million megaton</a> explosion. While six miles may seem pitiful compared to the size of a planet, its impact was truly global.



<h4 id="h-immediate-effects-of-the-chicxulub-disaster">Immediate Effects of the Chicxulub Disaster</h4>



The Chicxulub disaster caused a series of events that changed the world forever. While the global situation became dire, the region around the impact site got completely demolished.&nbsp; Using <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/regional-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> from fossilized plant debris, sediment deposits, core samples, ripple marks, and other geological clues, scientists have been able to piece together the initial aftermath of the Chicxulub impactor.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-the-impact-zone">The Impact Zone</h5>



The blast of the impact alone created devastating plasma that reached temperatures of over <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/regional-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10,000 degrees</a>, destroying everything in the crater’s radius.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-the-air-blast">The Air Blast</h5>



If lifeforms avoided being literally squished, the asteroid strike created shockwaves and high-velocity winds sent across the Gulf of Mexico called an air blast would be next to get them.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-tsunamis">Tsunamis </h5>



Along with the air blast, tsunamis rolled over the Mexican coast and southeastern North America. Estimated to have been up to 300 meters tall, the waves rolled inland up to 100 kilometers before depositing mainland sediment back onto the ocean floor.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-earthquakes-the-peak-ring">Earthquakes &amp; The Peak Ring</h5>



The asteroid impact also caused seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 10 earthquake. The seismic pulse also created a tectonic formation unique to craters over 2 km wide. When the meteor hit, seismic waves moved in and out of the crater simultaneously. The colliding movement caused an uplift of rocks to the center of the basin which then collapsed into a circle of mountains, called a peak ring.



Overview: the initial impact of the Chicxulub asteroid caused high winds, tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires, and general devastation&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h4 id="h-global-effects-of-the-chicxulub-disaster">Global Effects of the Chicxulub Disaster</h4>



In addition to the catastrophes that erupted at the impact site and surrounding region, the effects of the Chicxulub disaster spread worldwide. Not only was their impact global, but also the extent of the damages wasn’t brief. In many cases, the consequences of the crater lasted years, ultimately changing the makeup of the world’s ecosystems.



<h5 id="h-wildfires">Wildfires</h5>



After colliding into the Yucatan Peninsula, the meteor exploded into a cloud of scorching debris. Scattered over the earth, the flaming fall-out lit wildfires around the globe. Evidenced by a layer of ash, these fires likely released significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-acid-rain">Acid Rain</h5>



When the meteor hit the Gulf of Mexico, all the soot and debris from the impact shot back up into the atmosphere. Initially, the influx of debris shocked the atmosphere with firey temperatures. Additionally, the impact of the asteroid released sulfurous gas. The combination of heat and sulfur started a chain of chemical reactions causing acid rain.&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-global-cooling">Global Cooling</h5>



Depending on their size, the particulates stayed suspended in the atmosphere for up to a year. Consequently, they acted as a giant cloud, blocking the sunlight. As a result, average temperatures decreased around the globe.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h5 id="h-global-warming">Global Warming</h5>



After the initial global cooling event, the greenhouse gases released during the impact had the opposite effect. Based on measurements of potential CO2 release to growth rates seen in fossilized leaves, scientists estimate that temperatures likely rose between <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Chicxulub/global-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1.0 and 7.5°C</a> and lasted for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">100,000 years</a>.&nbsp;



Overview: After the initial wave of devastation from the Chicxulub impact, the airborne soot and debris, along with a release of greenhouse gases caused worldwide wildfires, acid rain, and global cooling and warming events that completely disrupted life on Earth.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713496240.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1899749"/><figcaption>Ammonites were some of the animals to go extinct during the Chicxulub Disaster. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Kuzmalo">Kuzmalo</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-the-5th-mass-extinction-event">The 5th Mass Extinction Event</h2>



Though scientists publish new studies each year on the events of the Chicxulub disaster, there’s one thing we know for sure. Below the K-T boundary, dinosaurs dominated the Earth. Above it, only avian dinosaurs remain. When the Chicxulub asteroid hit the Earth, it marked the end of the Cretaceous period and opened up thousands of niches to mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.



There have only been five recorded mass extinction events in Earth’s history. Of course, species go extinct all the time, but this usually coincides with the evolution of more complex organisms. The five mass extinctions, on the other hand, cause a dieoff of at least <a href="https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/understanding-extinction/mass-extinctions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">40%</a> of species due to extreme environmental factors.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-shifts-in-the-food-web-the-nail-in-the-dinosaur-s-coffin">Shifts in the Food Web: the Nail in the Dinosaur’s Coffin</h3>



The Chicxulub disaster notoriously caused the dinosaur extinction. But not just the dinosaurs suffered. Pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and mosasaurs (large marine reptiles) went extinct as well. While the tsunamis and acid rain surely took out a good number of critters, they couldn’t have been enough to wipe out over 75% of the living plants and animals. That accolade goes to the long-term impacts of the meteor.&nbsp;



Initially, plants couldn’t adapt to the dramatic shifts in climate combined with blocked sunlight from the particulates.  The impact on plant life had a domino effect on the global food web. While many plants have seeds and pollen that could outlast the most severe conditions in a dormant state, the animal kingdom was not so lucky. Starving and suffering, the largest animals took the hardest hit. Small mammals, avian dinosaurs, and reptiles found a way to survive the devastation. When the climate stabilized, the surviving lineages adapted, grew, and developed into diverse evolutionary trees.  The events that marked the end of the dinosaurs were the origin of life as we know it today.



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The Chicxulub Disaster

The Chicxulub disaster marks one of Earth’s greatest mass extinctions...

The,Marine,Iguana,Poses.,/,The,Marine,Iguana,Poses,On

There aren't all that many marine reptiles. Turtles, crocodiles, and sea snakes make up the bulk of the 100 species of marine reptiles. The marine iguana is the only lizard that is able to use both land and aquatic environments!



<h2 id="h-what-are-iguanas">What Are Iguanas?</h2>



Iguanas are a family of reptilian lizards (Iguanidae) native to South America, Central America, and some parts of the Caribbean islands. Iguanas are part of the Squamata order of reptiles (or reptilia in Latin), which includes all species of&nbsp;lizards, snakes, and worm lizards. All iguanas are fairly strict herbivores. They graze on various plants for sustenance. &nbsp;Iguanas, like many other reptiles, lay eggs. The incubation period for iguana eggs ranges from two to four months. A distinctive feature of iguanas is their dewlap, which is that funny flap of skin below their chin. Fun fact: cows, dogs, rabbits, and many other vertebrates have dewlaps!



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_681714934.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898974"/><figcaption>The green iguana is a troublesome pest in southern areas of the U.S. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/AnaCrisMont">AnaCrisMont</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-do-iguanas-live-in-the-u-s">Do Iguanas Live in the U.S.?</h3>



Common species, such as the green iguana (scientific name&nbsp;Iguana iguana), or sometimes called American iguana, are invasive species in places like Texas, Hawaii, and Florida. Iguanas can thrive in a variety of climates, from the tropical rainforests of Puerto Rico to the deserts of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The desert iguana, for example, is a native to the brutal Sonoran desert of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. The spiny-tailed iguana, in contrast, lives in the jungles of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1908998569.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898975"/><figcaption>The dragon-like cyclura iguanas face many threats. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Blue+Sky+imagery">Blue Sky imagery</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



Iguanas are a semi-common pet for herpetology enthusiasts. While some types of iguanas can be raised in captivity, the illegal pet trade endangers some populations and species of iguanas. Other genera in the iguana family, such as the Cyclura iguanas of the West Indies, are among the most endangered species in the world.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_683241898.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898976"/><figcaption>Lizards enjoying that island lifestyle. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Marco+Mancini">Discover Marco</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-marine-iguanas-only-live-on-the-galapagos">Marine Iguanas Only Live On the Galapagos</h2>



Marine iguanas, like much of the life on the Galapagos Islands, are an evolutionary anomaly. Scientists believe these lizards <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-294X.1997.00209.x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">floated on ocean debris</a> from mainland Ecuador to the Galapagos millions of years ago. In fact, the lizards may have arrived on the islands before any of the current islands existed! The Galapagos are a volcanic island chain. As the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/supercontinents-101-pannotia-gondwana-and-pangea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tectonic plates</a>&nbsp;move over the volcanic hotspot, new islands are formed. The islands the lizards initially landed on have eroded into the sea.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-marine-iguanas-live-like-this">Marine Iguanas Live Like This</h2>



Marine iguanas, like all other iguanas,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/what-do-marine-iguanas-eat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">live on an herbivorous diet</a>. Instead of eating land-based plants, these strange lizards eat underwater algae. Marine iguanas typically live to be about 12 years old, but some individuals have reached the ancient age of 60.



<h2 id="h-a-day-in-the-life-marine-iguanas-unique-adaptations">A Day in the Life: Marine Iguanas' Unique Adaptations</h2>



Because they have such an unusual lifestyle, marine iguanas have some unusual evolutionary adaptations compared to other lizards. Let's walk through a day in the life of a marine iguana and see how these adaptations help these creatures.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_693844036.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898977"/><figcaption>A marine iguana swims through the water. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Andy+Deitsch">Andy Deitsch</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-swimming-with-crocodile-like-tails">Swimming With Crocodile-Like Tails</h3>



You wake up on the rocky beach with an empty belly; you're a hungry iguana. All of your food is in the ocean, so you slink off to the waves for some breakfast.



Marine iguanas have special tails that help them swim. These tails are shaped like crocodile tails, which are long and muscular. They use these tails to swim in a snake-like pattern. Without these tails, these lizards would not be able to maneuver in the water. With the tails, however, these lizards are excellent swimmers that can access all sorts of underwater vegetation. These cold-blooded creatures' body temperature can drop by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1441131" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than 10C</a>&nbsp;during one foraging session in the cold Pacific Ocean. Incredibly, these lizards appear to behave normally when their body temperatures are as low as 77F and as high was 104F. That broad range of temperatures surely makes us humans look like weaklings in comparison. Hypothermia sets in when human body temperature sinks below a mere 95F and fever sets in above 100F.&nbsp;



The marine iguanas name may be slightly misleading. While these lizards are killer swimmers, they don't spend all that much time in the water. In fact, these lizards only&nbsp;<a href="http://special%20salt-excretion%20glands%20the%20white%20scales%20around%20their%20face%20might%20appear%20as%20simply%20scales%20with%20different%20color%20pigment.%20instead%2C%20these%20scales%20are%20white%20because%20of%20an%20interesting%20trait.%20marine%20iguanas%20live%20in%20very%20salty%20environs.%20they%20ingest%20substantial%20amounts%20of%20salt%20as%20they%20forage%20for%20algae%20underwater.%20in%20high%20concentrations%2C%20salts%20can%20be%20toxic%20and%20dehydrating.%20in%20response%20to%20high%20salt%20levels%2C%20these%20water-loving%20lizards%20evolved%20a%20special%20gland%20near%20their%20nose%20that%20excretes%20excess%20salts%20in%20their%20bodies.%20these%20salt%20glands%20are%20incredibly%20efficient%20at%20expelling%20salt%20from%20the%20marine%20iguana%27s%20bodies.%20the%20iguanas%20then%20spread%20these%20salts%20around%20their%20nose%20through%20daily%20activities.%20instead%20of%20white%20pigmentation%2C%20the%20white%20is%20simply%20salt%20deposits%21%20%20a%20marine%20iguana%20swims%20through%20the%20water./" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spend about 5% of their time</a>, or one hour a day, actually submerged and swimming in the water. &nbsp;



In order to avoid dropping their body temperature too much, these lizards also forage on algae in the&nbsp;<a href="http://the%20marine%20iguanas%20name%20may%20be%20slightly%20misleading.%20while%20these%20lizards%20are%20killer%20swimmers%2C%20they%20don%27t%20spend%20all%20that%20much%20time%20in%20the%20water.%20in%20fact%2C%20these%20iguanas%20only%20spend%20about%205%25%20of%20their%20time%2C%20or%20one%20hour%20a%20day%2C%20actually%20submerged%20and%20swimming%20in%20the%20water./" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">inter-tidal zone.</a>&nbsp;When the tide goes out, it exposes algae on rocks that were previously underwater. Inter-tidal feeding doesn't suck as much heat out of the lizards' bodies.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_797312221.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898978"/><figcaption>The talons on this iguana help it grip onto rocks as it feeds on algae. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Bryan+Chu">Bryan Chu</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-talons">Talons</h3>



Once you find a nice pasture of algae, you use your talons to secure yourself to the rock as you graze. You spend a while using your mouth to pick algae off of rocks. This tasty algae is your main source of food.&nbsp;



These special lizards also evolved long, sharp, strong talons to help them grip on to rocks while they forage. Without these claws, waves could easily sweep the lizards away from their tasty algae patches while they feed. With these claws, the lizards can cling on to rocks through turbulent conditions.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1901979757.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898979"/><figcaption>Young iguanas sun themselves to warm up from the cold ocean. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Andreas+Stahre">Andreas Stahre</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-iguanas-enjoy-beach-bummin">Iguanas Enjoy Beach Bummin'&nbsp;</h3>



You've just spent an hour foraging in the frigid Pacific ocean. With a belly fully of algae, it is time to warm up!&nbsp;



All lizards are cold-blooded animals, which mean they need external heat to regulate their body temperatures. Marine iguanas are very dark colored because that color helps them absorb the most amount of heat from the sunshine. By basking in the sunlight, these lizards raise their body temperatures after being in the cold water.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_2010115664.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898980"/><figcaption>A marine iguana sneezes salts out of its salt glands. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/martinmark">Maridav</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-special-salt-excretion-glands">Special Salt-Excretion Glands</h3>



While eating all that algae in the ocean, you also consumed a lot of ocean water. After your body efficiently concentrates the salt in your body, you spend a while sneezing that salt out of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1447726" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">special salt glands</a>&nbsp;in your nose. After sneezing out your salt and warming up, you realize it is low tide so you forage on in the inter-tidal zone. Then, more basking! That's more or less the life of a marine iguana.&nbsp;



The white scales around a marine iguana's face might appear as simply scales with different color pigment. Instead, these scales are white because of an interesting trait. Marine iguanas live in very salty environs. They ingest substantial amounts of salt as they forage for algae underwater. In high concentrations, salts can be toxic and dehydrating. In response to high salt levels, these water-loving lizards evolved a special gland near their nose that excretes excess salts in their bodies. These salt glands are incredibly efficient at expelling salt from these lizards' bodies. The lizard then spread these salts around their nose through daily activities. Instead of white pigmentation, the white is simply salt deposits!



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_204443467.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898981"/><figcaption>It's time to sleep after a hard day's work! <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/estivillml">Marisa Estivill</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h2 id="h-marine-iguanas-on-different-galapagos-islands-are-distinct">Marine Iguanas on Different Galapagos Islands Are Distinct</h2>



While these is only one species of marine iguana, there is almost a unique subspecies on every Galapagos Island. Much like the evolution of Darwin's Finches, these lizards have evolved to exploit their hyper-specific environments.&nbsp;



Interestingly, this lizard appears in many sizes. In an area with a high quality algae pasture, these adult&nbsp;male iguanas can grow to be&nbsp;<a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/0012-9658(1997)078[2204:ELTBSI]2.0.CO;2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ten times the weight</a>&nbsp;of adult&nbsp;male iguanas in areas with low quality pasture! Additionally, these heavier lizards can be two times longer than their less-nourished brethren.&nbsp;



Its not always good to be bigger, however. During the weather pattern of El Niño, the warmer ocean waters decrease the lizards's algae pastures. As these algae pastures become less rich, the&nbsp;<a href="https://socobilldurham.sites.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj10241/f/soco_08_-_dame_boyle_allison.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">larger lizards tend to suffer first and hardest</a>&nbsp;while the smaller lizards tend to do okay. A larger marine iguana needs to eat more algae to keep its body functioning. When there is less algae overall that is much harder to do!



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_520808293.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1898982"/><figcaption>Isn't that a nice smile? <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Donya+Nedomam">Don Mammoser</a>/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 id="h-threats-to-marine-iguanas">Threats to Marine Iguanas</h3>



Even though they are in a protected island chain in the middle of the ocean, these marine lizards face various threats. As ocean temperatures warm with climate change, the algae pastures will likely decrease in quality. This means that every year could be akin to a El Niño famine year for these special marine lizards. Non-native animals on the Galapagos are also a threat to these lizards. These lizards did not evolve with land predators, so they don't know how to react to non-native animals like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X07001961" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cats and dogs</a>. Cats and dogs can easily kill the unsuspecting lizards. protect their eggs from non-native animals like rats. Tourism is another threat to these lizards. Iguanas show&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X10002114" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">measurable amounts of stress</a>&nbsp;when tourists approach them. The indirect impacts from&nbsp;<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-02769-2_12" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fishing tourism and pollution</a>&nbsp;also make life harder for these lizards. For these reasons, the marine iguana is listed as a threatened species.&nbsp;



If you are ever lucky enough to visit the Galapagos Islands, remember to keep your distance from these unique creatures while you appreciate their unusual lifestyle.  



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There Are Only 100 Marine Reptiles: The Iguana

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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



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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 a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



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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The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&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 capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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