Acipenser transmontanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=d55013d210f7439f8ca981b3b73576f2&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j69i59.492j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, California. However, some are landlocked in the Columbia River Drainage, Montana, and Lake Shasta in California, with reported sightings in northern Baja California, Mexico.Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) &gt; Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) &gt; Acipenseridae (Sturgeons) &gt; Acipenserinae Etymology: : Latin, = sturgeon, 1853 (Ref. 45335); transmontanus: The specific name is derived from the Latin acipenser (sturgeon), trans (beyond), and montanus (mountain) (Ref. 27436).More on author: Richardson.

Acipenser transmontanus

Acipenser transmontanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation...

NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changing-ocean-soundscapes-impact-animals-worldwide/">animals</a> too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=6af7b47b706a421cbff7d45ac370e984&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.971j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.The Cicek Minnow (Acanthorutilus handlirschi) is a species of concern belonging in the species group "fishes" and found in the following area (s): Turkey. This species is also known by the following name (s): Pseudophoxinus handlirschi, Oreoleuciscus handlirschi, Phoxinellus handlirschi. Source: Federal Register, U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service (various authors), series (version undefined) Acquired: 1996 : Notes: Various listings from the Federal Register on the legal status of species : Reference for: Acanthorutilus handlirschi, cicek [English] Source: NODC Taxonomic Code, database (

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.This species is also known by the following name(s): Pseudophoxinus handlirschi, Oreoleuciscus handlirschi, Phoxinellus handlirschi.

Acanthorutilus handlirschi

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Accipiter fasciatus natalis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/mistastin-lake-in-labrador-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Accipiter fasciatus natalis ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=84f1e8e9658b4caea7e69e7c7dff2555&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i57j69i59j0j69i60l3.1774j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Accipiter fasciatus natalis

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Accipiter francesii pusillus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=b465a6a06aa04b25a2b750c94d1fc9be&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j0.591j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.Anjouan Island Sparrowhawk, or Ndzuwani Goshawk Accipiter francesii pusillus, an extremely rare, possibly extinct, subspecies of Frances's Sparrowhawk Spot-tailed Goshawk, Accipiter trinotatus Grey Goshawk, Accipiter novaehollandiae. The Anjouan sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae pusillus), also known as Anjouan Island sparrowhawk, Ndzuwani goshawk or Joanna Island goshawk is a subspecies of Frances's sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae). It is endemic to the Comoros island of Anjouan. It was thought to be extinct until searches in the 1980s and in 2005 confirmed that it is still extant.· North America, the planet's 3rd largest continent, includes (23) countries and dozens of possessions and territories. It contains all Caribbean and Central America countries, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, the United States of America, as well as Greenland - the world's largest island.

Accipiter francesii pusillus

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Accipiter gentilis laingi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=0e16320dcb6d40748a5d6a1b3d9cc5b8&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.Accipiter gentilis laingi Wildlife Species Description and Significance The Northern Goshawk laingi subspecies (Accipiter gentilis laingi) is a raven-sized, robust forest-dwelling raptor. Adults are brown-grey to slate-grey on the back, while underparts are pale-grey with fine horizontal grey bars and darker vertical streaking.The Northern Goshawk laingi subspecies (Accipiter gentilis laingi) is a raven-sized, robust forest-dwelling raptor. Adults are brown-grey to slate-grey on the back, while underparts are pale-grey with fine horizontal grey bars and darker vertical streaking. The head has a distinctive whitish line above the eye and a dark-grey to black cap.

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Accipiter gentilis laingi

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Accipiter striatus venator NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=6af7b47b706a421cbff7d45ac370e984&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.971j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk, (Accipiter striatus venator), falcón de sierra or gavilán pecho rufo in Spanish, is an endemic subspecies of the North American sharp-shinned hawk, occurring only in Puerto Rico. Discovered in 1912 and described as a distinct sub-species, it has been placed on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species because of its rapidly dwindling population in Puerto Rico. It can be found in the Toro Negro State Forest.Accipiter striatus venator is an endemic subspecies of the North American Sharp-shinned Hawk, occurring only in Puerto Rico. This animal has been placed on the Federal endangered list because of its rapidly dwindling population on the island.

Accipiter striatus venator

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Achatinella spp. NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=0e16320dcb6d40748a5d6a1b3d9cc5b8&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.Scientific name: Achatinella spp Hawaiian name: Kāhuli / Pūpū kani oe All 41 species of the genus Achatinella, also known as the O‘ahu tree snails, are federally listed as endangered. O‘ahu tree snails are diverse in patterns, colors, and shapes but all average about 3/4 inch in length.Oʻahu tree snails, genus Achatinella, form a large genus of colorful, tropical, tree-living, air-breathing, land snails, arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinellidae. This genus of tree snails is endemic to Hawaii, and all extant species are endangered. They were once abundant and were mentioned extensively in Hawaiian folklore and songs, and their shells were used in lei and other ornaments.

Achatinella spp.

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Acinonyx jubatus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph), and as such has several adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs and a long tail. It typically reaches 67–94 cm (26–37 in) at the shoulder, and the head-and-body length is between 1.1 and 1.5 m (3.6 and 4.9 ft). Adults weigh between 20 and 65 kg (44 and 143 lb). Its head is small, rounded, and has a short snout and black tear-like facial streaks. The coat is typically tawny to creamy white or pale buff and is mostly covered with evenly spaced, solid black spots. Four subspecies are recognised. More gregarious than many other cats, the cheetah has three main social groups—females and their cubs, male "coalitions" and solitary males. While females lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Acinonyx jubatus

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Acipenser brevirostrum NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=cd15138958b44bb2b853b45f848f47f2&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) is a small and endangered species of North American sturgeon. The earliest remains of the species are from the Late Cretaceous Period, over 70 million years ago. Shortnose sturgeons are long-lived and slow to sexually mature. Most sturgeons are anadromous bottom-feeders, which means they migrate upstream to spawn but spend most of their lives feeding in rivers, deltas and estuaries. The shortnose sturgeon is often mistaken as a juvenile Atlantic sturgeon, because of their small size. Prior to 1973, U.S. commercial fishing records did not differentiate between the two species, both were reported as "common sturgeon", although it is believed based on sizes that the bulk of the catch was Atlantic sturgeon. The shortnose is distinguishable from the Atlantic sturgeon due to its shorter and rounder head.

Acipenser brevirostrum

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Acipenser medirostris NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/faking-death-is-a-good-way-for-animals-to-stay-alive/">animals</a> too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports --Acipenser medirostris  ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=0e16320dcb6d40748a5d6a1b3d9cc5b8&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.Sturgeons are among the largest and most ancient of <a title="Actinopterygii" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinopterygii">ray finned fishes</a>. They are placed, along with <a title="Paddlefish" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddlefish">paddlefishes</a> and numerous fossil groups, in the infraclass <a title="Chondrostei" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrostei">Chondrostei</a>, which also contains the ancestors of all other bony fishes. The sturgeons themselves are not ancestral to modern bony fishes but are a highly specialized and successful offshoot of ancestral <a title="Chondrostei" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrostei">chondrosteans</a>, retaining such ancestral features as a <a title="Fish fin" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_fin">heterocerca</a>l tail, fin structure, jaw structure, and spiracle. They have replaced a bony skeleton with one of <a title="Cartilage" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartilage">cartilage</a>, and possess a few large bony plates instead of scales. Sturgeons are highly adapted for preying on bottom animals, which they detect with a row of sensitive <a title="Barbel (anatomy)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel_(anatomy)">barbels</a> on the underside of their snouts. They protrude their very long and flexible “lips” to suck up food. Sturgeons are confined to temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Of 25 extant species, only two live in California, the green sturgeon and the <a title="White sturgeon" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_sturgeon">white sturgeon</a> (A. transmontanus). (Moyle 2002)

Acipenser medirostris

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Acipenser mikadoi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The Sakhalin sturgeon is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=japan&amp;cvid=b99abe0ea03d49319f23b97aa3ab6c4e&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j0l6.1785j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Japan</a> and Russia.The Sakhalin Sturgeon (Acipenser mikadoi) has 8-12 dorsal scutes, 25-30 lateral scutes, 7-11 ventral scutes, 29-41 dorsal fin rays and 18-28 anal fin rays. Colouration ranges from olive-green to dark green on the back to yellowish green-white on the ventral side with an olive-green stripe on the side between the lateral and ventral scutes.

The Sakhalin sturgeon is considered to be a species that migrates up the river from the sea in order to spawn. During the months of April to May, the Sakhalin sturgeon feeds in the freshwater and then returns to the ocean during the summer

Acipenser mikadoi

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Acipenser naccarii NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.The Adriatic sturgeon (Acipenser naccarii) is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is native to the Adriatic Sea and large rivers which flow in it of Albania, Greece, Italy, and States of former-Yugoslavia. Specimens can be seen in several public aquarium, such the Milan Aquarium, Aquarium Finisterrae, Aquarium of the Po, and Oasis of Sant'Alessio in Lombardy.The Adriatic Sturgeon (Acipenser naccarii) is a thick set fish, growing up to 2 metres but 1.5m is more usual. Weight is 20-25kg. A long lived species, the Adriatic sturgeon has been recorded to reach 50 years of age. Acipenser naccarii has 10-14 dorsal scutes, 32-42 lateral scutes, 8-11 ventral scutes, 36-48 dorsal fin rays and 24-31 anal fin rays. The short snout is wide and rounded at the tip. The colour is grey-brown on the dorsal side

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Acipenser naccarii

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Acipenser oxyrinchus (=oxyrhynchus) desotoi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/mistastin-lake-in-labrador-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Acipenser oxyrinchus (=oxyrhynchus) desotoi ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=84f1e8e9658b4caea7e69e7c7dff2555&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i57j69i59j0j69i60l3.1774j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe

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Acipenser oxyrinchus (=oxyrhynchus) desotoi

Acipenser oxyrinchus (=oxyrhynchus) desotoi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe...

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=2c2e13fdcefb416498254b6003035344&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j0l2.1080j0j1&amp;pglt=299&amp;FORM=ANNTA1&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video. The Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of A. oxyrinchus, the other being the Gulf sturgeon (A. o. desotoi). The main range of the Atlantic sturgeon is in eastern North America, extending from New Brunswick, Canada, to the eastern coast of Florida, United States. A disjunct population occurs in the Baltic region of Europe. Atlantic sturgeon live in rivers and coastal waters from Canada to Florida. Hatched in the freshwater of rivers, Atlantic sturgeon head out to sea as juveniles, and return to their birthplace to spawn, or lay eggs, when they reach adulthood.

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=6af7b47b706a421cbff7d45ac370e984&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.971j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.The Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of A. oxyrinchus, the other being the Gulf sturgeon (A. o. desotoi). The main range of the Atlantic sturgeon is in eastern North America, extending from New Brunswick, Canada, to the eastern coast of Florida, United States. A disjunct population occurs in the Baltic regionof Europe Atlantic sturgeon live in rivers and coastal waters from Canada to Florida. Hatched in the freshwater of rivers, Atlantic sturgeon head out to sea as juveniles, and return to their birthplace to spawn, or lay eggs, when they reach adulthood.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.Acipenser oxyrinchus is mostly native to the countries of Canada and the United States, with a smaller population in northern Europe (essentially the Baltic region ). They can be found in temperate and subtropical climates and in marine or freshwater environments

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=0e16320dcb6d40748a5d6a1b3d9cc5b8&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.The Atlantic sturgeon is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of A. oxyrinchus, the other being the Gulf sturgeon (A. o. desotoi). The main range of the Atlantic sturgeon is in eastern North America, extending from New Brunswick, Canada, to the eastern coast of Florida, United States. A disjunct population occurs in the Baltic regionof Europe

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.Acipenser oxyrinchus is mostly native to the countries of Canada and the United States, with a smaller population in northern Europe (essentially the Baltic region ). They can be found in temperate and subtropical climates and in marine or freshwater environments. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), proposed to designate critical habitat for the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, and Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) of Atlantic sturgeon ( Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus

Acipenser sinensis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis; Chinese: 中華鱘; pinyin: zhōnghuá xún) is a critically endangered member of the family Acipenseridae in the order Acipenseriformes. Historically, this anadromous fish was found in China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, but it has been extirpated from most regions due to habitat loss and overfishing. It is strictly protected by the Chinese government, named a "national treasure" much like its mammalian counterpart, the giant panda. China has several conservation programmes, including reserves specifically aimed at this species and restocking through release of juveniles in the Yangtze River.

Acipenser sinensis

Acipenser sinensis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Acipenser sturio NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=d55013d210f7439f8ca981b3b73576f2&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j69i59.492j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), also known as the Atlantic sturgeon or common sturgeon, is a species of sturgeon previously found on most coasts of Europe. It is anadromous and breeds in rivers. It is currently a critically endangered species. Although the name Baltic sturgeon sometimes has been used, it has now been established that sturgeon of the Baltic region are A. oxyrinchus, a species otherwise restricted to the Atlantic coast of North America.Manufactured products are derived from eel, sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), salmon and trout (Salmo spp.), and, in the case of aquaculture species, tilapia (Tilapia spp.), tench (Tinca tinca), carp (Cyprinus spp.), salmon and trout. All of these form part of a sizeable range of widely distributed and economically important species.

Acipenser sturio

Acipenser sturio NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Acrocephalus familiaris kingi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and<a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/"> Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=cd15138958b44bb2b853b45f848f47f2&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j0.896j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.Acrocephalus familiaris kingi The Nihoa Millerbird is a tiny land bird that was discovered on the island of Nihoa in 1923. Another subspecies once occurred on Laysan Island, where it went extinct in the early 20th century after the island was devegetated by introduced rabbits.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.The millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris) is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It has two subspecies, A. f. kingi and A f. familiaris. The latter, the Laysan millerbird, became extinct sometime between 1916 and 1923. The former, the critically endangered Nihoa millerbird, remains the only race left, inhabiting the small island Nihoa in Hawaiʻi, though it has since been reintroduced to Laysan.

Acrocephalus familiaris kingi

Acrocephalus familiaris kingi NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Tiny clusters of drifting debris called "marine snow" shower through the ocean every day, ferrying food and carbon from the bright surface to the dark seafloor.



New <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505085122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiments</a> now show that the smallest flakes plunge more quickly than their larger cousins, overturning a century of textbook fluid dynamics and hinting at fresh twists in the planet’s carbon budget.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-marine-snow-the-basics">Understanding "marine snow" - the basics</h2>



This “snow” consists of dead and decaying animals, plankton, fecal matter, mucus, and other tiny detritus that clump together into slow-sinking flakes. 



Despite the whimsical name, marine snow plays a serious role in the ocean's ecosystem - it serves as a crucial source of food for many deep-sea organisms that live far below sunlight’s reach. 



Without this steady rain of carbon-rich material, life in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-trash-debris-now-found-in-deepest-parts-of-earths-seas-and-oceans-mediterranean/">ocean’s abyss</a> would be severely limited.



Beyond its ecological function, marine snow also influences Earth’s climate system. As it sinks, it transports carbon from the surface to the ocean floor, effectively removing it from the atmosphere for centuries or even longer. 



This process, known as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-robots-are-exploring-the-oceans-role-in-climate-control/">biological carbon pump</a>, helps regulate global carbon dioxide levels and mitigate climate change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smallest-marine-snow-sinks-faster">Smallest marine snow sinks faster</h2>



“It basically means that smaller particles can sink faster than bigger ones,” said Robert Hunt and colleagues at <a href="https://www.brown.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brown University</a> and the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> at Chapel Hill, who led the study. 



That counterintuitive sprint happens only in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/stratified-fluid" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stratified fluids</a> such as the ocean, where density increases with depth.



When a porous flake soaks up salt from the layers it crosses, the added mass beats the drag that normally slows tiny objects. 



Because surface‐to‐depth density changes are gentle yet persistent, salt diffusion keeps boosting the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/marinesnow.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flake’s weight</a> all the way down.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-this-important">Why is this important?</h2>



Speed matters. The ocean’s <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GB007083" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon biological pump</a> moves about 10.2  billion tons of carbon a year from sunlit waters toward long‑term storage below the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/thermocline.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">thermocline</a>. 



Faster‑than‑expected settling of small fragments may revise estimates of how much carbon actually reaches the deep, especially during spring plankton blooms when the ocean teems with fine detritus.



The same physics could alter the journey of <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microplastics</a>. A recent global <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08818-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a> found that smaller plastic bits, under 0.004 inch, linger longer at mid‑depths than bigger shards. 



If porosity or biofilm growth changes their salt uptake, these particles might fall sooner than models predict and redistribute pollution hotspots on the seafloor.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-marine-snow-sinks-through-layers">How marine snow sinks through layers</h2>



Hunt’s team built a four‑foot‑long tank whose density changed smoothly from fresh water at the top to salty water below, mimicking the open ocean’s gradient. Carefully controlled pumps dripped the two end‑member waters to create a stable linear stratification.



The researchers then 3D‑printed molds and cast agar shapes (spheres, disks, and rods) with diameters from 0.04 to 0.4 inch. 



Like gelatin desserts, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/agar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agar particles</a> were riddled with pores that quickly exchanged water and salt with their surroundings.



High‑speed cameras tracked each particle’s plunge through the tank. “We ended up with a pretty simple formula where you can plug in estimates for different parameters and get reasonable estimates of the sinking speed,” said <a href="https://engineering.brown.edu/people/daniel-m-harris" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daniel Harris</a>, an associate professor of engineering at Brown who oversaw the work.



The observations matched the new equation: among spheres, a one‑millimeter bead beat a four‑millimeter bead to the bottom. 



For flat or rod‑shaped bodies, the thinnest dimension set the pace, allowing needle‑like fragments to blitz past bulkier shapes of the same mass.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-salt-makes-porous-marine-snow-fall-faster">Salt makes porous marine snow fall faster</h2>



Classical drag calculations assume an object’s density stays fixed as it falls. Porous bodies break that rule because water flows through them, letting dissolved salt accumulate inside.



The model hinges on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/porosity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">porosity</a>, solute <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/diffusivity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diffusivity</a>, and the <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/lom3.10316" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vertical density gradient</a>. If salt absorption boosts density faster than drag slows descent, size becomes a liability and small wins the race.



This diffusion‑limited regime likely dominates for fluffier aggregates made of <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/phyto.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phytoplankton</a> remains, fecal pellets, or dust‑laden snow. Less porous grains of sand or shell should still follow the familiar bigger‑falls‑faster script.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fast-sinking-marine-snow-changes-estimates">Fast-sinking marine snow changes estimates</h2>



Biogeochemical models track how quickly carbon sinks, gets eaten, or dissolves on the way down. Underestimating the speed of fine aggregates could inflate estimates of mid‑water remineralization and shortchange deep‑sea sequestration.



<a href="https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NOAA</a> notes that the ocean absorbs about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide humans emit each year, buffering climate change. Tweaking particle speeds could shift where, and how long, that captured carbon stays locked away.



Some climate engineers are exploring methods that encourage fast‑sinking flakes, from adding minerals that ballast algae to growing kelp for deep burial. 



Knowing exactly which sizes and shapes drop quickest will sharpen those interventions and gauge possible ecological side effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-plastic-pollution">Lessons for plastic pollution</h2>



Plastic fragments often pick up biofilms, turning them into tiny sponges that absorb salts and organic goo, much like marine snow. 



If that boosts density, millimeter‑scale fibers might leave surface waters sooner than remote sensing suggests.



A plastic snowfall could ferry toxins to bottom feeders and alter food webs once thought safe from floating litter. Policy aimed at surface cleanup alone may miss this hidden pathway.



Researchers also found that elongated pieces settle according to their thinnest axis. That means synthetic fibers shed from clothing, typically long and narrow, may descend even faster than spheres of equal volume.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-in-real-ocean-and-improving-models">Testing in real ocean and improving models</h2>



Hunt and Harris plan to partner with oceanographers to drop custom particles over deep moorings and compare lab predictions with real‑world drifts. They also aim to explore how temperature gradients, common near polar ice and hydrothermal vents, tweak the balance between drag and diffusion.



Back on land, modelers are already folding the new equation into regional carbon budgets and microplastic fate simulations. Small marine snow flakes, once dismissed as slow movers, are entering the spotlight, reminding scientists that size is only skin deep when salt can seep inside.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505085122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Tiny "marine snow" particles in the oceans defy the laws of physics

Tiny clusters of drifting debris called "marine snow" shower through...

The Falkland Islands greet visitors with low grasses, rocky ridges, and relentless sea spray. Yet beneath that stern exterior, researchers have just uncovered a buried <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossilized-frozen-forest-reveals-climate-impacts-on-ancient-alpine-ecosystems/">forest</a> that flourished long before humans or sheep ever set foot on the archipelago.



Six yards down in a construction trench near Stanley, workers hit a mat of dark peat studded with whole trunks. 



The surprise was not the wood itself, but the fact that nothing taller than a shoulder‑high shrub grows there today. <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/62c7fm/doctor-zoe-thomas" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Zoë Thomas</a> of the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southampton</a> hurried to the site with colleagues, ready to salvage the pieces before they dried and cracked.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wood-that-outlived-the-wind">Wood that outlived the wind</h2>



“The tree remains were so pristinely preserved they looked like driftwood,” recalled Dr. Thomas. Thomas lifted a limb the size of a fence post and found its bark still rough to the touch. 



No one knew how long they had rested in the bog, but living trees have been missing from the islands for at least 40,000 years.



The team could not turn to radiocarbon dating, which maxes out at roughly 50,000 years. Instead, they trimmed thin slices and shipped them to Sydney for high‑resolution electron imaging.



Pollen locked in the surrounding peat dated the forest to between 15 and 30 million years ago, a span that straddles the late Oligocene and early Miocene. 



The mix included beech relatives in the genus <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/nothofagus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nothofagus</a> and several podocarps, matching patterns reported in the full research paper.



Two stout logs showed growth rings close together, hinting at cool summers even during this warmer epoch. 



Their cell walls bore the hallmarks of podocarp wood, a group that still dominates cool temperate rainforest in modern Patagonia, underscoring the ecological link between the distant cousins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reading-pollen-like-a-calendar">Reading pollen like a calendar</h2>



The job of decoding those grains falls to palynology, the study of microscopic spores and pollen. Under a microscope, each grain’s surface pattern acts like a bar code that links it to a species and, by extension, to a geologic era. 



“The fossil pollen, spores, and wood paint a much different picture of the ancient environment, providing direct evidence of cool, wet forests,” noted <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/staff/profile/michael-donovan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michael Donovan</a>, collections manager at <a href="https://nirc.fieldmuseum.org/news-archive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chicago’s Field Museum</a>.



More than 60 percent of the sample came from podocarp conifers, while about 25 percent carried the three‑lobed signature of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666715001189" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nothofagus pollen</a>. 



Rare grains from warmth‑loving families such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/sapindaceae" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sapindaceae</a> hinted that South American seeds were wafting eastward across hundreds of miles of open ocean during warm intervals of the Cenozoic.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ancient-forest_falkland-islands_micropollens_credit-Cambridge_1big.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ancient-forest_falkland-islands_micropollens_credit-Cambridge_1s.webp" alt="Selected photomicrographs of fossil pollen produced by gymnosperm and angiosperm living relatives in the rainforest of southern South America. Credit: Cambridge" class="wp-image-1975279"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Selected photomicrographs of fossil pollen produced by gymnosperm and angiosperm living relatives in the rainforest of southern South America. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Cambridge</figcaption></figure>



Microscopic charcoal was scarce, an encouraging sign that wildfires rarely disturbed the ancient canopy. That quiet fire record aligns with a wetter climate than the modern islands enjoy.



Researchers also sifted for marine algae spores, a trick that reveals whether sea water ever lapped over the deposit. Their absence shows the forest stood on dry ground, likely a low valley later blanketed by peat as the climate cooled.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-islands-lost-their-trees">How the islands lost their trees</h2>



Today the Falklands sit at 52° S and average just 42 °F year‑round with gusts that routinely top 40 mph. Those bitter <a href="https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/falklands/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">maritime conditions</a>, together with nutrient‑poor peat, keep seedlings from pushing above the grass. 



Strengthening westerly winds, documented across the Southern Hemisphere over the past century, intensify the stress by blasting salt spray far inland.



The peat itself may work against new growth by locking up nutrients in acidic water. Ecologists who have tried experimental plantings report that saplings break at the first major gale unless sheltered by artificial windbreaks. Taken together, climate and soil form a near‑perfect barrier against a second natural forest.



Geologists think the islands have hovered near their present latitude since Gondwana fractured, so tectonic escape cannot explain the deforestation. 



Instead, cooling after the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1332-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miocene Climate Optimum</a> and a regional drop in rainfall likely squeezed the forest until only shrubs remained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-window-into-south-atlantic-climate">Window into South Atlantic climate</h2>



Finding a temperate rainforest at this latitude underscores how warm the mid‑Cenozoic could become when atmospheric carbon dioxide climbed above modern levels. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-gravity-pulls-earth-closer-to-the-sun-warming-our-climate-scientists-say/">Climate</a> simulations for the Miocene put average Falklands temperatures around 55 °F and annual rainfall nearly double today’s totals, conditions that match the biological evidence in the peat.



Those same models show that stronger westerlies funnel moisture toward Patagonia while drying the islands, hinting that the buried forest may hold a high‑resolution record of wind shifts. 



In turn, such shifts modulate <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1323922111" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Antarctic sea‑ice</a> and global carbon uptake, making the peat bed a valuable target for future isotope work.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ancient-forest_falkland-islands_wood-fragments_credit-Cambridge_1big.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ancient-forest_falkland-islands_wood-fragments_electron-microscope_credit-Cambridge_1s.webp" alt="Scanning electron microscopy images of wood fragments discovered on the treeless island in the Falklands. Credit: Cambridge" class="wp-image-1975281"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Scanning electron microscopy images of wood fragments discovered on the treeless island in the Falklands. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Cambridge</figcaption></figure>



By analyzing stable isotopes in the wood cellulose, researchers hope to reconstruct year‑to‑year rainfall and test the model predictions. 



The approach could reveal whether abrupt wind changes lined up with global tipping points such as Antarctic glaciation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-peat-preservation-and-future-risks">Peat, preservation, and future risks</h2>



“Current projections suggest the region will get warmer but also drier, leading to concerns about the risk of erosion to the peatlands,” she cautioned. 



The peat that embalmed the trunks also locks away tons of carbon. As the South Atlantic warms, Thomas worries that drier summers could crack the surface and let <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rocks-reveal-the-turning-point-when-oxygen-changed-earth-forever/">oxygen</a> race in, turning the bog from a sponge into a source of greenhouse gases.



Local conservationists already fight soil loss where tussac grass has been overgrazed by livestock. The newly reported site lies only a few feet above high tide, so any rise in sea level or storm surge could scour out the deposit and erase a chapter of Southern Hemisphere history.



Preserving the trench and the samples it yielded will allow future scientists to mine the pollen layers for fresh clues about ocean currents and storm tracks. 



Uncovering a forest where none should exist reminds researchers that landscapes can flip between extreme states when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-apathy-people-are-adjusting-to-global-warming-too-quickly/">climate</a> crosses hidden thresholds.



Studying those thresholds, tree by fossilized tree, may refine predictions for the winds, rains, and ecosystems of the next century.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic/B4CFF913DD8F1BB43B570E4086C7CF7B" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Antarctic Science</a>.



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Ancient forest discovered hidden on a treeless island in the South Atlantic

The Falkland Islands greet visitors with low grasses, rocky ridges,...

Many warming experiments may be painting an incomplete picture. Michigan State University researchers found that studies focusing only on summer heatwaves could be underestimate the effects of climate change. 



Plants live through winter too. Ignoring cold-season warming misses key processes like root growth and nutrient cycling.



Their latest global meta-analysis, published in Global Change Biology, analyzed 126 open-top chamber experiments. These covered 13 plant traits across varied ecosystems, from Antarctica to Michigan. 



The massive dataset helped identify how traits like biomass, nitrogen content, and flowering respond to warming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-summer-only-experiments-fall-short">Summer-only experiments fall short</h2>



“This important global synthesis of warming effects on plants across many ecosystems can be used to inform models of future impacts,” said Phoebe Zarnetske, professor in MSU’s <a href="https://integrativebiology.natsci.msu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Integrative Biology</a> department.



Year-round warming triggered stronger changes. Aboveground biomass, fruit weight, and leaf growth all showed greater increases. In contrast, seasonal (summer-only) warming produced muted effects. 



For instance, aboveground nitrogen content only dropped significantly under year-round warming.



Experiments that ignore winter might miss crucial ecological shifts. The study suggests that many past experiments may underpredict plant responses to climate warming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-changes-plant-traits">Warming changes plant traits</h2>



The researchers categorized plant responses into growth, reproductive, chemical, and phenological traits. Some responses were predictable. 



Warming increased leaf growth (Hedges’ g = 0.54) and belowground biomass (g = 0.60). It also led to earlier spring phenophases, though the effect was marginal (g = −0.12).



However, not all changes were positive. Aboveground nitrogen content fell (g = −0.41), likely due to nutrient dilution effects. Fruit weight increased with latitude, showing stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-may-trigger-rapid-release-of-soil-carbon/">responses</a> at colder sites.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-colder-areas-show-bigger-plant-changes">Colder areas show bigger plant changes</h2>



As latitude increased, reproductive traits became more sensitive. Number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-say-this-is-the-best-fruit-to-eat-for-a-healthier-liver/">fruits</a> and fruit weight rose significantly in higher latitudes. Spring timing advanced more sharply near the poles.



Plants near their northern range edges also grew more under warming. These range-edge plants likely experience more variable climates. 



That variability may help them adapt quickly. Species farther from the edge showed smaller or even negative changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-responses-stabilize-over-time">Warming responses stabilize over time</h2>



Short-term experiments produced stronger trait shifts. Over time, communities may adjust, leading to smaller visible effects. For example, flower lifespan and fruit number showed weaker changes in longer experiments.



This pattern suggests plastic responses may fade or stabilize. Year-round warming more accurately mimics future conditions, especially with expected winter temperature increases.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-species-react-alike">Not all species react alike</h2>



Growth forms made a big difference. Graminoids, like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/your-lawn-plays-a-key-role-in-absorbing-urban-carbon-emissions/">grasses</a>, responded to 9 of 13 traits. Shrubs followed, showing warming-related boosts in percent cover and fruit output.



Bryophytes and lichens, on the other hand, declined under warming. Their percent cover dropped, while vascular plants thrived. This contrast could offset community-level trends, masking specific plant changes in smaller species.



“Non-native species may benefit from future climate conditions,” the study noted. Yet, research on these species remains limited. Data on non-native responses were often too sparse for solid conclusions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-studies-need-more-plants">Warming studies need more plants</h2>



Phoebe Zarnetske’s SpaCE Lab contributed one of the 126 datasets. Their long-term warming plots at the Kellogg Biological Station captured seasonal changes often missed by others.



“This study is unique in terms of the size of the dataset we collected,” said Kara Dobson. “It brings together data from experiments across the globe and from all continents, including Antarctica.”



The team recommends a broader inclusion of species types. Non-native and non-vascular plants need more attention. Without them, predictions will remain skewed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-change-requires-better-models">Climate change requires better models</h2>



Many past warming studies looked only at one context, such as summer, certain species, or specific regions. This analysis shows that no single trait tells the whole story.



Warming affects plants differently depending on latitude, plant type, and experiment duration. The good news is that coordinated global efforts, like the LTER and WaRM networks, are beginning to close these gaps.



Plants are not passive players. They adapt, decline, or thrive, sometimes all at once. But to understand these shifts, we need to look through all seasons and across all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-environmental-stress-strengthens-ecosystems/">ecosystems</a>. Not just when the sun shines brightest.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70306" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Warming winters may reshape global plant communities

Many warming experiments may be painting an incomplete picture. Michigan...

Scientists recently discovered that certain changes in the roots of teeth can reveal whether someone is a current or former smoker. 



This breakthrough came from a team at <a href="https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northumbria University</a>, working alongside scientists from the <a href="https://le.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Leicester</a>. Their findings could offer powerful tools for both forensic science and archaeology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-teeth-can-tell-us">What teeth can tell us</h2>



Your teeth aren’t just for chewing. They carry a hidden timeline of your life. Teeth are made up of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tooth-enamel-holds-a-record-of-human-health/">enamel</a>, dentine, and cementum. 



<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/cementum" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cementum</a> is the hard tissue that coats the tooth’s root, and it grows in layers - similar to the way trees deposit annual growth rings. Every year, a new layer forms.



The research team originally set out to use these cementum rings to estimate a person’s age. That kind of analysis can help identify victims of disasters when DNA samples aren’t available.



“By looking at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-rings-reveal-the-carbon-storage-capacity-of-a-forest/">growth rings</a> in the teeth, we can also estimate a person’s age when the tooth was removed, or when they died,” said Dr. Ed Schwalbe, coauthor and professor in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University.



“Together, this information could help identify unknown individuals - such as disaster victims or those buried in mass graves - and offer new tools for forensic and historical investigations,” he confirmed.



But they also found something unexpected.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smoking-marks-teeth-as-well">Smoking marks teeth as well</h2>



They examined 88 teeth from both living dental patients and archaeological remains. In many cases, the cementum rings weren’t smooth and regular. Some had disruptions - changes in thickness or shape that didn’t line up with the typical growth pattern.



They looked more closely. These disruptions weren’t random. They were consistently found in the teeth of people who smoked or used to smoke.



“Our research shows that it’s possible to tell if someone was a smoker just by examining their teeth,” said Dr. Schwalbe. 



“We found that the regular annual deposition of rings was disrupted for some individuals and realised that these disruptions were associated with current or ex-smokers, but were very rare in non-smokers.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smoking-s-undeniable-signature-in-teeth">Smoking's undeniable signature in teeth</h2>



In teeth from former <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smokers-have-weaker-hearts-that-pump-less-blood/">smokers</a>, the team saw thick layers of cementum built up over disrupted rings. They believe that when someone quits <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quitting-smoking-at-any-age-brings-big-and-immediate-health-benefits/">smoking</a>, the cementum begins to return to a normal growth pattern, forming denser layers on top of the older, damaged ones. 



That may explain why ex-smokers’ teeth showed thicker cementum than was found in the teeth of current smokers.



The numbers were striking. Disrupted cementum appeared in 70% of ex-smokers and 33% of current smokers - but in only 3% of people who had never smoked.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/smoking_teeth-stains-damage_cementum-rings_credit-NorthumbriaU_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/smoking_teeth-stains-damage_cementum-rings_credit-NorthumbriaU_1s.webp" alt="Example of smoking damage in an archaeological tooth. The magnified image shows variations in the tooth's cementum rings from smoking. Credit: Northumbria University" class="wp-image-1975125"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Example of smoking damage in an archaeological tooth. The magnified image shows variations in the tooth's cementum rings from smoking. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Northumbria University</figcaption></figure>



“We compared the cemental deposition of smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers visually and statistically to identify irregularities that were potentially connected to smoking activity,” said Dr. Valentina Perrone, lead author on the study. 



“We found that individuals with a history of smoking - whether as a current or former smoker – were significantly more likely to have disruption to their cementum than those who did not."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quitting-doesn-t-remove-smoking-markers">Quitting doesn't remove smoking markers</h2>



The study included 46 living participants who needed teeth extracted as part of routine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brushing-your-teeth-regularly-can-prevent-deadly-liver-disease/">dental care</a>. In one standout case, a participant’s tooth showed damage estimated to have occurred between the ages of 22 and 41.



When the researchers reviewed the patient’s history, they found that the individual, who was aged 58 at the time, had smoked between the ages of 28 and 38.



That matched the evidence exactly.



“Smoking is known to have a systemic impact on the body and numerous studies have highlighted the correlation between smoking, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/periodontitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354473" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">periodontitis</a> and tooth loss,” Dr Perrone added. 



“This study shows, for the first time, the biological record of smoking-related oral health damage within the dental structure.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-echoes-from-past-centuries">Echoes from past centuries</h2>



To test whether these markers of smoking could be found in much older remains, the team worked with Dr. Sarah Inskip, UKRI Fellow at the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History. They examined 18 archaeological teeth dating from between 1776 and 1890.



Some of these teeth came from individuals known to have smoked. Signs included discoloration and even physical notches worn into the teeth by clay pipes.



Even after centuries underground, the cementum in those teeth still bore the same disruption patterns as found in the teeth of modern smokers.



“This could help us learn more about people’s lifestyles in the past, especially in archaeological studies where patterns of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-bans-could-help-prevent-1-2-million-lung-cancer-deaths/">tobacco</a> use can reveal important cultural insights,” said Dr. Schwalbe.



“The identification of 'smoking damage' in archaeological teeth opens up further avenues to understand how the long-term consumption of tobacco in populations has affected our health through time,” Dr. Inskip added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-teeth-don-t-lie">Your teeth don’t lie</h2>



These findings show that even if someone quits smoking, their teeth may carry the evidence for life. 



That insight has major implications - not just for understanding personal health histories, but for reconstructing the lives of people long gone.



The next time you smile, remember that your teeth are holding a history of some of your lifestyle choices.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0323812" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLOS One</a>.



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Smoking leaves permanent traces in teeth deep below the surface - a new forensic

Scientists recently discovered that certain changes in the roots of...

In the sweltering crown of the Amazon rainforest, nearly 200 feet above the forest floor, researchers have spent years chasing a deceptively complex question: How do tropical canopy trees keep from frying in the very sunlight they rely on?



A new study led by <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> (MSU) has found that Amazonian trees juggle sunlight with remarkable finesse - yet that balance may falter as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-foundation-of-life-is-at-risk-from-climate-change/">climate change</a> turns the forest hotter, drier, and brighter.



Doctoral candidate Leonardo Ziccardi led the study under the guidance of forestry ecophysiologist Scott Stark. 



Since 2019, the team has mounted multiple field campaigns near Manaus, Brazil. They carried handheld photosynthesis instruments and ropes strong enough to haul scientists and gear into the leafy heights.



“It’s been a long journey,” Ziccardi said, recalling hundreds of hours spent aloft, recording minute-by-minute fluctuations in leaf temperature, humidity, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-dance-entangled-photons-wave-functions-captured-real-time/">photon</a> capture.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trees-manage-light-like-solar-panels">Trees manage light like solar panels</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-inspired-energy-lessons-from-leaves-and-raindrops/">Leaves</a> are biological solar panels, absorbing photons to power photosynthesis. But excess light can scorch the photosynthetic machinery unless trees convert the overload to harmless heat or a faint red glow known as chlorophyll fluorescence.



For decades, ecologists have used satellite-detected “solar-induced fluorescence” (SIF) as a stand-in for photosynthesis across vast regions.



Until now, however, no one had mapped in detail how individual canopy leaves partition light between photosynthetic work and protective dissipation in the ever-shifting conditions of an Amazon dry season.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-every-photon">Tracking every photon</h2>



Using the MultispeQ - a portable device created at <a href="https://prl.natsci.msu.edu/about/index.aspx">MSU’s DOE-funded Plant Research Laboratory</a> by co-author David Kramer - the team clipped onto thousands of leaves spanning dozens of tree species and all levels of the canopy.



The instrument measures absorbed light, photosynthetic electron flow, heat loss, and real-time fluorescence, letting the scientists trace every photon’s fate.



The data reveal canopy leaves acting as huge, sensitive antennas. Under mild conditions, leaves direct most light to carbon fixation, releasing only small amounts as heat and fluorescence.



As midday sun or dry-season humidity deficits intensify, the balance shifts. Leaves ratchet up safety valves that vent surplus energy as heat.



When those safeguards max out, fluorescence surges as a last-ditch outlet, even while photosynthetic rates plunge - an early warning that cell machinery is approaching burnout.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-three-phase-stress-signature"><a></a>A three-phase stress signature</h2>



This nuanced response emerged as a consistent three-phase pattern across species and canopy positions.



In a balanced phase, at low to moderate light, photosynthesis and fluorescence rise in tandem. Leaves are using energy efficiently, and protective heat dissipation remains secondary.



In the transition phase, higher light or drier air forces leaves to divert more absorption into heat. In this stage, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/revealing-the-secrets-of-photosynthesis-through-pep/">photosynthesis</a> plateaus and fluorescence begins to decouple from it.



Finally, in the overload phase, heat dissipation hits its ceiling. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fluorescent-caves-on-earth-can-teach-us-about-extraterrestrial-life-environments/">Fluorescence</a> spikes even higher, signaling potential photodamage, while photosynthesis collapses.



Such high-resolution leaf physiology had never before been charted in Amazonian forests. For Ziccardi, the breakthrough sprang from relentless canopy work.



“Since 2019, we’ve run multiple field campaigns across seasons, climbing giant trees in the heart of the Amazon to understand how these forests respond to environmental changes," he said. "We’ve spent hundreds of hours up in the canopy doing measurements - some of the most intense and rewarding work I’ve ever done."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-satellites-may-misread-tree-stress">Satellites may misread tree stress</h2>



The discovery carries a caution for global remote-sensing efforts. Researchers often map SIF from space to estimate gross primary productivity. This key metric tracks how much carbon dioxide vegetation converts into biomass each year.



The study shows that during severe droughts - when cloud cover thins and sunlight becomes harsher - canopy leaves may glow brightly even as their photosynthetic capacity craters. Relying on SIF alone could therefore exaggerate the forest’s true productivity at precisely the times it is most stressed.



As the Amazon’s dry season lengthens under warming temperatures and regional deforestation, clouds are thinning, and insolation is rising. Whether canopy leaves can sustain their intricate balancing act under these compound pressures remains an open question.



The team’s measurements suggest resilience but not invincibility: energy-dissipating pathways can adjust, yet they have limits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-amazon-trees-up-close">Studying Amazon trees up close</h2>



By combining leaf-level measurements with satellite imagery, researchers can refine algorithms that translate fluorescence into carbon uptake, improving forecasts of the forest’s future. But such calibration requires continued boots - or rather, ropes - in the canopy.



Stark notes that the Amazon’s towering biomes host myriad species, each with distinct physiology. Ongoing field campaigns will probe whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-forests-can-survive-drought-but-it-comes-at-a-high-cost/">drought</a>-adapted trees hold hidden advantages or if a tipping point looms where protective strategies fail en masse.



The work also provides a template for monitoring other tropical forests edging toward hotter, clearer climates.



Integrating handheld devices like the MultispeQ with flux towers, drones, and satellites could provide a multiscale view of photosynthetic health. This is crucial for sounding alarms before irreversible die-back sets in.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-delicate-dance-with-light"><a></a>A delicate dance with light</h2>



The Amazon’s canopy trees evolved to thrive in a Goldilocks zone of radiant power. They receive enough sunlight to drive one-fifth of the planet’s photosynthesis, yet it's softened by frequent clouds and moist air. Climate change threatens to tip that balance.



Ziccardi’s data offer a first-hand glimpse of how each leaf on a giant tropical tree responds second by second to light’s bounty and burden. 



The delicate choreography between photosynthesis, heat venting, and fluorescence could determine whether the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rainforest-emissions-shape-the-climate-and-cloud-formation/">rainforest</a> continues to trap carbon - or begins to release it back to an already warming world.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70183">New Phytologist</a>.



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Climate change is disrupting how Amazon trees process sunlight

In the sweltering crown of the Amazon rainforest, nearly 200...

In theory, planting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/traditional-forest-farming-is-an-overlooked-climate-solution/">trees</a> can wipe away the carbon cost of burning fossil fuels. But a new peer-reviewed analysis shows just how massive that effort would need to be. 



To balance the reserves of the 200 largest oil, gas, and coal companies, the world would have to create an engineered forest covering about 9.4 million square miles - an area larger than all of North America.



“Afforestation on that scale would push people off their land and erase existing habitats,” said Alain Naef, an environmental economist at <a href="https://essec.edu/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESSEC Business School</a> and lead author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-afforestation-alone-cannot-fix-emissions">Afforestation alone cannot fix emissions</h2>



Afforestation, the deliberate creation of new <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/afforestation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forests</a>, is often promoted as the cheapest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-now-emit-more-carbon-than-they-store-due-to-wildfires/">natural sink</a> for industrial emissions. 



One gigaton equals one billion metric tons, and the companies’ reserves would release 673 gigatons of carbon dioxide if burned.



The team asked whether trees alone could sponge up that mass before 2050. They calculated how much carbon a newly planted hectare can absorb, then scaled that to the entire fossil portfolio sitting underground. 



The answer was 24.75 million square kilometers, roughly 15 percent of Earth’s land surface.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-scale-of-the-problem">The scale of the problem</h2>



Turning that much ground into forest would match the 9.35 million‑square‑mile footprint of North America. Converting it would mean uprooting farms, towns, and existing ecosystems on every continent except Antarctica.



Even if space were found, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-forests-rose-again-after-the-planets-most-extreme-extinction/">trees</a> would need decades to reach maturity, during which the carbon budget for staying below 1.5 °C keeps shrinking. 



The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts the remaining global <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/technical-summary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon budget</a> at roughly 400 gigatons far less than what Big Oil alone could emit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-afforestation-offsets-cost-more-than-oil-profits">Afforestation offsets cost more than oil profits</h2>



To see whether firms could simply pay for offsets, the researchers applied the 2022 average European Union carbon‑market price of just over €80 (about $90) per ton, a figure confirmed by market analysts. 



At that level, 95 percent of the companies would show a negative “net environmental valuation.”



“It would be more profitable to leave the fuel in the ground than to extract and offset it later,” the researchers concluded. 



They looked at cheaper forestry credits, around $16 per ton, and cutting‑edge direct air‑capture technology, near $1,000 per ton. The first leaves two‑thirds of firms underwater, and the second sinks them all. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-forests-aren-t-free">Why forests aren’t free</h2>



Today, Earth’s woods and soils already soak up about <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30 percent</a> of the carbon we emit each year. Expanding that sink sounds simple, but biology argues back. 



Fast‑growing plantations guzzle water and nutrients, push out biodiversity, and, in dry or fire‑prone regions, can even raise local temperatures.



Most of the land earmarked in the calculation is now cropland or rangeland. Replacing it would tighten food supplies and likely spike prices. 



Meanwhile, one lightning strike, drought, or beetle swarm can send centuries of stored carbon back into the sky in a single season.



Naef’s group tested a <a href="https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/social-cost-carbon-101/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social cost of carbon</a> of $190 per ton, close to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-12/epa_scghg_2023_report_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a>’s latest estimate. 



At that price, operating any major fossil company produces negative value for society, even before land, labor, or political hurdles are added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-afforestation-land-is-already-in-use">Afforestation land is already in use</h2>



Much of the land assumed to be available for afforestation is already claimed for food production, housing, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protecting-forests-helps-birds-and-humans-in-many-ways/">biodiversity</a> preservation. 



In many regions, open or unforested land is not “unused” but is crucial for pastoralists, indigenous communities, or native species. 



Treating this land as expendable undercuts existing ecosystems and social systems that depend on it.



Global land competition is intensifying as population grows and diets change. Turning millions of square miles into carbon sinks means competing directly with agriculture, which could threaten food security worldwide. 



Even if afforestation were technically feasible, the political and ethical tradeoffs make it an unworkable solution at scale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-emissions-reductions-must-take-priority">Emissions reductions must take priority </h2>



Offsetting programs have gained popularity among corporations aiming to appear climate-conscious without changing their core operations. But many of these schemes lack transparency, consistency, or verification. 



Critics argue they allow continued pollution under the guise of future cleanup, which often never materializes or is exaggerated in impact.



Naef and colleagues warn that relying on afforestation as a main climate tool distracts from the immediate need to reduce fossil fuel use. They emphasize that while trees can help, carbon math alone shows the gap is too wide. 



Emission reductions must take priority if there's any chance of meeting international climate targets.



Direct air‑capture still matters, and real forest restoration still protects wildlife. But the study shows those tools cannot shoulder the job of burying every barrel’s worth of carbon. 



Keeping proven reserves in the ground costs nothing, buys time for cleaner energy, and avoids an impossible tree‑planting bill.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02394-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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Creating forests can't realistically cancel out fossil fuel emissions

In theory, planting trees can wipe away the carbon cost...

Cities are becoming more than just human-built environments. Their light and heat now influence how plants grow. 



A major international study confirms this shift. Artificial <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-artificial-light-can-boost-coral-reef-recovery/">lighting</a> lengthens the growing season in urban areas more than heat does.



The researchers analyzed satellite data from 428 cities across the Northern Hemisphere between 2014 and 2020. They found urban plant growth begins earlier and ends later than in nearby rural areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-city-lights-affect-plant-growth">City lights affect plant growth </h2>



Urban heat islands form when buildings and roads trap warmth. Cities also get brighter each year. 



Artificial light at night (ALAN) has grown nearly 10% annually over the last decade. Both heat and light alter plant growing seasons, but this study reveals light matters more.



"ALAN is a critical driver of vegetation dynamics in cities," noted the researchers. The artificial light changes how plants respond to seasonal cues, especially during autumn when natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-light-disrupts-honeybee-sleep-patterns/">light</a> typically declines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-urban-plants-grow-earlier-and-stay-green">Urban plants grow earlier and stay green</h2>



Across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/light-pollution-skyglow-fuels-toxic-algae-and-alters-carbon-cycle-in-lakes/">cities</a>, the growing season starts 12.6 days earlier and ends 11.2 days later than rural zones. That is over three weeks of extended green time.



Spring ALAN levels increased exponentially from rural to urban centers. In contrast, temperature rose more gradually. Spring light intensity climbed from 3.1 to 53.3 nW cm² sr⁻¹ across city gradients. Autumn changes followed similar trends.



The study revealed a strong correlation between higher ALAN and delayed leaf drop. EOS (end of season) was more strongly influenced by ALAN than by temperature in nearly half the cities examined.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-continents-and-climates-respond-differently">Continents and climates respond differently</h2>



Europe experienced the earliest start to spring, with Asia following and North America close behind.



Despite being the brightest overall, North American cities showed the smallest shift in plant growing season timing. This suggests that more light does not always mean bigger changes in plant behavior.



Different Köppen climate zones responded in varied ways to artificial light. ALAN had the strongest effect in cold climates without dry seasons and in temperate zones with dry summers or winters. 



In these areas, artificial light advanced spring plant growth more than rising temperatures did. This shows that light can override the usual seasonal cues driven by warmth.



However, end-of-season (EOS) patterns were more consistent. In nearly every climate, artificial light delayed the end of plant activity. 



Even in warmer or drier zones, nighttime light caused plants to hold onto their leaves longer. This widespread delay in senescence shows how deeply city lighting alters natural plant rhythms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-latitude-and-light-sensitivity">Latitude and light sensitivity</h2>



The farther north a city lies, the more its plants respond to artificial light. In higher latitudes, the natural variation in daylight is more extreme. This makes plants especially sensitive to artificial night lighting.



“ALAN acts as an artificial extension of natural daylight,” wrote the study authors. In high-latitude cities, it disrupts the signals that tell plants when to shed their leaves.



Temperature still plays a role, especially in triggering spring growth. But ALAN’s influence on leaf fall in autumn now appears stronger and more widespread.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-led-light-shifts-plant-timing-in-cities">LED light shifts plant timing in cities</h2>



The shift from sodium lamps to white LEDs has intensified ALAN effects. LEDs emit more blue light, which plants detect through specialized receptors. That may change how plants time their seasonal shifts.



“Plants sense different wavelengths through different photoreceptor pathways,” noted the researchers. 



However, most satellites cannot yet detect blue light well. Future monitoring will need to include this spectral range to track ecological impacts accurately.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-beyond-greener-cities">Looking beyond greener cities</h2>



Longer growing seasons may sound beneficial. Trees may take up more carbon and offer better shade. But there are downsides. A longer leaf season raises the risk of frost damage, mismatched plant-pollinator cycles, and more severe allergy seasons.



City planners face a complex challenge. Lighting designs must meet safety needs but avoid harming plants. 



A smarter urban lighting strategy could reduce ecosystem disruptions while maintaining livable cities. Urban ecology is shifting under our feet and our lights. It is time we took notice.



The researchers are affiliated with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whu.edu.cn/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wuhan University</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vanderbilt University</a>&nbsp;,&nbsp;<a href="https://nau.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northern Arizona University</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.igb-berlin.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Freie Universität Berlin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ornl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oak Ridge National Laboratory</a>&nbsp;, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Los Angeles</a>&nbsp;.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-025-00258-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Cities</a>.



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Plants that live in cities have much longer growing seasons now

Cities are becoming more than just human-built environments. Their light...

Imagine inhaling hundreds of invisible spores every day. Most float in and out of our airways without leaving a trace. Yet some of those spores belong to molds that don't respect boundaries.



Many fungus species will infect lungs, spoil crops, and disrupt ecosystems all at the same time. In short, they can wreak massive havoc and leave death in their wake.



Most molds and fungi are helpful, but some fungus and mold will jump from hospital wards to honeybee hives, and the line between helpful recycler and harmful invader grows blurrier each year.



Most of the time, healthy immune systems swat away dangerous spores and fight off infection. Trouble arises when weakened defenses, rising temperatures, and heavy fungicide use tip the scales. 



Suddenly, the same fungus that quietly decomposes the fallen leaves in your yard can trigger relentless coughs, damage corn silos, and shrug off medicines that once kept it in check.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aspergillus-fungus-easily-adapts">Aspergillus fungus easily adapts</h2>



After studying fungal threats for years, Dr. Norman van Rhijn and colleagues at <a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The University of Manchester</a> mapped how three notorious Aspergillus species - A. flavus, A. fumigatus, and A. niger - might spread through the end of the century. 



They fed climate change scenarios into global models and watched the virtual spores drift. One scenario (SSP585), which assumes a fossil-fuel-dependent future, paints an unsettling picture: habitats across Europe become markedly friendlier to these pathogens.



Aspergillus fungus thrives because its genome bends easily to new pressures. It lives on soil, grains, animal feathers, even coral skeletons. Out in the wild, it recycles nutrients, but on farms and in clinics, the story shifts. 



Farmers spray <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/super-fungus-is-among-us-drug-resistant-fungi-is-thriving-in-every-corner-of-the-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">azole fungicides</a> to protect wheat and peanuts; doctors use nearly identical azole drugs to save patients with lung infections. That overlap nudges Aspergillus toward drug resistance - similar to bacteria evolving against <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-rivers-are-highly-saturated-with-human-antibiotics-helping-bacteria-develop-resistance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">antibiotics</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-reshapes-global-mold-map">Climate reshapes global mold map</h2>



Temperature, humidity, and extreme weather events dictate where spores settle. 



“Changes in environmental factors, such as humidity and extreme weather events, will change habitats and drive fungal adaptation and spread,” said Dr. van Rhijn. 



“We’ve already seen the emergence of the fungus <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toxic-microbes-aerosols-can-travel-thousands-of-miles-through-the-air/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Candida auris</a> due to rising temperatures, but, until now, we had little information on how other fungi might respond to this change in the environment.” 



He added that fungi remain “relatively under-researched compared to viruses and parasites,” yet the new maps show they will likely reach “most areas of the world in the future.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Aspergillus_global-distributions_map_credit-MaxENT_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Aspergillus_global-distributions_map_credit-MaxENT_1s.webp" alt="MaxENT model accurate described Aspergillus global distributions. Credit: University of Manchester" class="wp-image-1973600"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">MaxENT model accurate described Aspergillus global distributions. Click image to enlarge. Credit: University of Manchester</figcaption></figure>



Those maps point to striking numbers. Under the high-emissions pathway, the range of A. flavus in Europe could jump about 16 percent, potentially putting another one million people at risk of infection. 



A. fumigatus - the chief culprit behind invasive aspergillosis - could expand its European footprint by 77.5 percent, threatening up to nine million more residents. 



In Africa, paradoxically, parts of the continent may become too hot for some fungi to survive, hinting at complex regional trade-offs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-aspergillus-fungus-spread">Forecasting Aspergillus fungus spread</h2>



Forecasting pathogens decades ahead may sound speculative, but it builds on earlier warnings. Hospitals already grapple with Aspergillus fungus outbreaks after building renovations or severe dust storms. 



Meanwhile, intensive-care units report stubborn cases in patients recovering from influenza or COVID-19. 



Rising outdoor spore loads could translate to more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-deadly-molds-attack-the-immune-system-of-humans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hospital admissions</a> and costlier treatments, especially because diagnostics for fungal infections lag far behind those for bacteria or viruses.



Mycotoxin contamination adds another layer. A single year of heavy Aspergillus growth can saddle the U.S. corn industry with losses topping $1 billion. 



Increased heat and humidity extend the window for mold growth in silos and fields, forcing farmers to discard grain or blend batches to dilute toxins - strategies that still carry economic and health risks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-current-drugs-don-t-work">Current drugs don't work</h2>



Azole resistance has climbed steadily in Europe and Asia. Patients with resistant Aspergillus fungus infections face mortality rates exceeding 50 percent, partly because alternative drugs can damage the kidneys or liver. 



Each hectare treated with agricultural azoles raises the odds that environmental spores will carry resistance genes into hospitals. 



Public-health agencies now track these genes in soil and compost piles, hoping to spot trouble before it reaches intensive care.



Fungicide demand is also changing. As some African regions exceed the thermal limits for certain molds, farmers elsewhere may spray more to protect lengthening growing seasons.



That feedback loop - more fungicide, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-plays-an-overlooked-role-in-antibiotic-resistance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stronger resistance</a> - complicates food security and patient care alike.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farms-food-and-rising-bills">Farms, food, and rising bills</h2>



Aspergillus isn’t the lone shapeshifter. Fusarium, which devastates wheat and oat fields, and Cryptococcus, an opportunistic pathogen in AIDS patients, also respond to warming climates. 



“Fungal pathogens pose a serious threat to human health by causing infections and disrupting food systems. Climate change will make these risks worse," explains Viv Goosens of <a href="https://wellcome.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wellcome</a>.



"To address these challenges, we must fill important research gaps. By using models and maps to track the spread of fungi, we can better direct resources and prepare for the future.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aspergillus-fungus-and-human-health">Aspergillus fungus and human health</h2>



Fungi account for an estimated 1.5 to 3.8 million species, yet fewer than 10 percent carry official descriptions, and only a sliver have sequenced genomes. 



The scarcity of basic data hinders vaccine development and slows the hunt for safer drug targets. 



Recognizing this blind spot, the <a href="https://www.who.int" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> added Aspergillus fungus and Candida species to its priority list for emerging threats in 2022.



Researchers now call for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/future-of-food-safety-ai-can-detect-contamination-early/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coordinated monitoring</a> - combining air quality sensors, agricultural sampling, and hospital surveillance - to trace spore movement in near-real time. 



Such efforts could flag hotspots, guide fungicide regulations, and spark investment in rapid diagnostics. Without them, today’s manageable mold may evolve into tomorrow’s silent pandemic.



No single fix will erase the risk. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions limits the environmental changes that favor Aspergillus fungus. 



Smarter fungicide policies slow resistance on farms. Better ventilation in buildings reduces indoor spore counts, while new antifungal classes extend doctors’ toolkits. 



Piece by piece, these steps can keep an ancient decomposer from becoming an outsized menace in a warming world.



The study has been published on preprint platform Research Square, available <a href="https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6545782/v1%20[researchsquare.com]%C2%A0;%20DOI:%20https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6545782/v1%20[doi.org]" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.



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Deadly fungus that can "eat you from the inside out" is quickly spreading around the world

Imagine inhaling hundreds of invisible spores every day. Most float...

Nanoparticles - microscopic specks released by cars, factories, forest fires, and volcanoes - float through every ecosystem on Earth.



Scientists are also designing these particles to precisely deliver <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fertilizer-reduces-plant-damage-caused-by-droughts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fertilizers</a> to crop roots, target pests with pesticides, or serve as tiny sensors that detect plant stress. 



But new research, led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Riverside,</a> shows that once those particles enter a plant cell, they can change in unexpected ways and interfere with the plant’s ability to photosynthesize.



The researchers uncovered a chain reaction: inside the cell, nanoparticles pick up a greasy coating and then cling to RuBisCO, the enzyme that jump-starts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-foundation-of-life-is-at-risk-from-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">photosynthesis</a>. The result is a dramatic slowdown in the plant’s carbon-dioxide intake.



The discovery does not condemn the promise of agricultural nanotechnology, but it does force scientists to rethink how particles are designed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unintended-consequences-of-nanoparticles">Unintended consequences of nanoparticles</h2>



While many agricultural scientists see nanotechnology as a key to feeding a growing global population, even its strongest proponents admit that today’s fertilizers and pesticides are wildly inefficient.



Juan Pablo Giraldo is the senior author and an associate professor of plant biology at UC Riverside.



“Half of all fertilizer applied on farms is lost in the environment and pollutes groundwater," he said. "With the most commonly used <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-attack-bees-in-multiple-ways-throughout-the-body/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pesticides</a>, it’s even worse -&nbsp;only five percent may reach their intended targets. There’s a lot of room for improvement.” 



Nanoparticles can, in theory, deliver cargo directly to a leaf’s interior and then break down safely. Scientists suspected the traits helping particles enter plants might also cause harmful collisions with sensitive proteins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nanoparticles-enter-plant-cells">Nanoparticles enter plant cells</h2>



To test that idea, the researchers exposed Arabidopsis plants - widely used as a model species - to positively charged nanoparticles. 



Using super-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, they watched the particles move through cell walls and membranes. Eventually, the particles reached the chloroplasts, where photosynthesis occurs.



“Nanoparticles, both natural and anthropogenic, are prevalent in many of Earth’s ecosystems, but scientists are only recently starting to understand how they interact with different parts of the environment,” said Lin He of the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Science Foundation</a>. 



Inside the plant’s watery interior, the particles experienced a lower pH and quickly attracted lipids from nearby membranes. This new greasy shell altered their surface chemistry and made them stick tightly to RuBisCO.



“The lipid coatings of positively charged nanoparticles enhance their binding to RuBisCO, and don’t allow it to do its job very well,” Giraldo explained.



RuBisCO is responsible for capturing carbon dioxide and turning it into sugar. Blocking even a fraction of its activity can leave a plant starved for energy.



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



To quantify that effect, the team measured <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-absorb-31-more-co2-than-previously-estimated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2</a> uptake in living leaves. Outside the cell, nanoparticles had little impact on RuBisCO activity. Inside the cell - after the particles had acquired lipid coats - RuBisCO’s efficiency fell to roughly one-third of normal.



“This is the first time we’ve been able to compare the effect of a nanoparticle on a protein both outside and inside a living <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plants-build-their-cell-walls-is-seen-by-scientists-for-the-first-time-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant cell</a>” Giraldo said.



At first, the scientists assumed the particle’s electrical charge might be responsible. Deeper analysis showed otherwise.



“Now we know that it’s not the charge necessarily, but the transformation they undergo as they enter plants, and potentially, other organisms as well,” Giraldo added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-greasy-molecular-puzzle">A greasy molecular puzzle</h2>



The team collaborated with chemists at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johns Hopkins University</a> to run molecular simulations of the interaction.



“We each bring in complementary techniques that enable deeper insights into a complex system such as a plant cell,” said co-author Rigoberto Hernandez, a scientist at Johns Hopkins.



His lab’s models showed lipid molecules flocking to the nanoparticle surface and forming a sticky layer that fits RuBisCO almost like Velcro.



“Using computer simulations providing a view of the structure and motion at microscopic scales, we resolved how lipids are acquired by nanoparticles in the presence of RuBisCO,” Hernandez said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nanoparticles-for-a-greener-future">Nanoparticles for a greener future</h2>



The researchers emphasize that nanoparticles still hold enormous promise, especially if they can be redesigned to avoid hijacking RuBisCO.



Through the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, researchers from various fields of chemistry and environmental science have collaborated closely. Together, they uncovered how nanoparticles transform and interact with a protein involved in plant photosynthesis.



“In so doing, they have laid the groundwork for the safer and more effective use of nanoparticles for agricultural and biotechnology applications," said Lin He.



Catherine Murphy, a chemistry professor at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Illinois</a> and study co-author, put the challenge bluntly: “This landmark study tells us that we have a long way to go to make nanoparticles that are truly beneficial in the environment,” she said.



“But now that we know the mechanism of action, we can retune our methods to solve these problems.”



Next steps include designing coatings that stay inert in cells or steering particles away from RuBisCO-binding areas. With that knowledge, future nanoparticles could nourish crops, fight <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pests-are-moving-to-cooler-regions-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pests</a>, and measure plant health - without dimming the green engine that feeds the planet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-025-01944-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Nanotechnology</a>.



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Nanoparticles are threatening the stability of plant cells

Nanoparticles - microscopic specks released by cars, factories, forest fires,...

Every year, mosquito-borne diseases cut short more than a million lives across the globe, outpacing every other animal threat to humanity. The rising toll has public-health teams scrambling for fresh combat tools, especially as traditional chemical sprays lose their edge.



That loss stems from two hard truths. First, the very <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7692614/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pyrethroid insecticides</a> that once worked wonders now linger in soil and water, nudging delicate ecosystems off balance. 



Second, mosquitoes adapt fast. Larvae soaking in tainted puddles and adults drifting through treated neighborhoods increasingly shrug off doses that once killed them. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-repellents-that-actually-work-yes-thanks-to-ai-machine-learning/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Controlling the pests</a> at their waterborne stage is vital, yet options that stay potent without harming everything else remain limited.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cannabis-cbd-and-mosquitoes">Cannabis, CBD, and mosquitoes</h2>



Recent research published in the journal Insects points to a solution hiding in plain sight: the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. 



After air-drying and grinding ordinary hemp leaves, scientists at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Ohio State University</a> led by Erick Martinez Rodriguez extracted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cbd-reduces-the-unwanted-side-effects-of-thc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cannabidiol (CBD)</a> and added the concentrate to cups of water teeming with yellow fever mosquito larvae. 



Within 48 hours, both a strain that laughs at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-could-make-insect-repellents-less-effective/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">common insecticides</a> and a non-resistant strain were wiped out.



“Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world, mainly because as adults they serve as vectors of disease,” Rodriguez explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-resistance-to-vulnerability">From resistance to vulnerability</h2>



Two important findings jumped out. The first was total mortality: every mosquito larva exposed to sufficient CBD died by the two-day mark, regardless of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-learn-how-mosquitoes-use-sound-to-outsmart-and-evade-human-defenses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its genetic armor</a>. 



The second was efficiency. While industrial chemicals often push resistance higher with every generation, CBD’s effect cut straight through those defenses. Doses varied, but even modest concentrations proved lethal to all mosquito larvae.



“If you compare the amount of hemp extract needed to kill 50 % of the population to other synthetic conventional insecticides, it is on the high side, but when you compare it side by side to other natural extracts we have tested in our lab, only a relatively low amount is required to produce high mortality values in larvae,” said Martinez Rodriguez.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-cbd-kills-mosquitoes">How CBD kills mosquitoes</h2>



Chemical sleuthing showed that CBD dominated the hemp extract, and terpene fractions did little damage on their own. 



Larvae were judged dead once they stopped moving under a gentle nudge, confirming the cannabinoid’s direct impact on vital systems.



Insects lack the endocannabinoid receptors that give <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cbd-can-help-ease-chronic-pain-anxiety-and-mood-disorders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CBD its wellness reputation</a> among humans, so the compound must strike different molecular targets - possibly ion channels that govern nerve impulses or enzymes tied to muscle control. 



Whatever the route, CBD skirts the metabolic tricks that shield many larvae from pyrethroids.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hemp-economics-meet-public-health">Hemp economics meet public health</h2>



Hemp is no niche crop. U.S. farmers planted about 27,680 acres in 2023, and the total value of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hemp-seeds-could-be-a-game-changer-as-an-alternative-protein-source/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hemp products</a> topped $291 million.



Leaves, often left as low-value waste after flowers and seeds are harvested, could become raw material for larvicides. 



Turning those leaf cast-offs into mosquito-control pellets would give growers an extra revenue stream while trimming refuse piles.



The crop’s adaptability sweetens the deal. Hemp thrives across a wide climate range, grows quickly, and rarely needs harsh pesticides of its own. 



Rural communities looking to diversify incomes and urban growers cultivating indoor micro-hemp could both feed a supply chain aimed at vector-control programs from Texas to Tanzania.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strains-and-waterway-safety">Strains and waterway safety</h2>



Field trials must still answer hard questions: How long does CBD linger in ponds? Does it bother tadpoles, fish fry, or helpful insects? 



Early lab work hints at selectivity, yet natural habitats are complex. Regulators will demand data showing that CBD pellets, briquettes, or slow-release films silence mosquito larvae without tipping aquatic ecosystems.



A second layer of testing will match different hemp strains for efficacy. Plants bred for fiber deliver more stalk than cannabinoid, while floral varieties boast <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cannabidiol" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">richer CBD profiles</a>. 



Selecting cultivars that maximize larvicidal punch and minimize unwanted compounds will keep costs down and environmental margins wide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-cbd-and-mosquito-control">Next steps for CBD and mosquito control</h2>



Scientists plan to refine dosage, explore formulations that stick to the water’s surface, and probe how CBD interacts with other biocontrol measures like Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. Combining modes of action could slow resistance even further. 



Teams will also map out manufacturing pipelines - picture hemp-leaf extract concentrated at regional facilities, then shipped as shelf-stable granules to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-some-people-are-mosquito-magnets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mosquito-control districts</a>.



Policy makers, meanwhile, need clear guidelines. Approving a botanical larvicide means balancing urgent disease threats against conservation goals. Transparent monitoring and community engagement will help keep public trust.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-another-weapon-in-the-mosquito-wars">Another weapon in the mosquito wars</h2>



Hemp-derived CBD will not single-handedly end malaria, dengue, or Zika. Yet the discovery that a familiar wellness compound doubles as a larval assassin widens the playbook. 



By uniting agriculture, chemistry, and entomology, researchers have opened <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-habitats-are-expanding-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a practical path</a> toward safer mosquito control. 



If larger-scale tests confirm the promise seen in the lab, those humble hemp leaves could soon guard countless backyard birdbaths, drainage ditches, and rice paddies - one cup of water at a time.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15/7/517" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Insects</a>.



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Cannabis extract proves to be highly effective at killing the most dangerous animals in the world

Every year, mosquito-borne diseases cut short more than a million...

Plants are far more adventurous underground than scientists once believed. A new study reports that many species extend a second, hidden network of roots more than a meter below the surface.



This discovery could ultimately reshape how researchers model nutrient cycling, water use, and the planet’s carbon budget.



Mingzhen Lu, an assistant professor in <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/departments/environment.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York University’s Department of Environmental Studies</a>, led this multi-institutional project.



“Understanding where plants grow roots is vital, as deeper roots could mean safer and longer-term carbon storage," she said. "Harsher conditions at depth may prevent detritus-feeding microbes from releasing carbon back to the atmosphere."



The findings suggest that plant roots may already be storing climate-warming carbon well below areas tracked by most ecological surveys.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-data-goes-deeper">Data goes deeper</h2>



Traditional root research stops at roughly 30 centimeters, the depth that shovels and corers reach most easily.



Lu and her colleagues pushed past that limit by tapping into the <a href="https://www.neonscience.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Ecological Observatory Network</a> (NEON), which collects samples down to two meters at dozens of U.S. sites.



From Alaskan tundra to Puerto Rican rainforest, the database provided thousands of soil cores reaching 6.5 feet - deep enough to chart root presence in realms seldom studied.



With those records in hand, the team set out to answer three intertwined questions: How does root density shift as soil gets deeper? Which environmental factors govern that distribution? And are subterranean nutrients being tapped as thoroughly as surface nutrients?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-roots-defy-expectations">Roots defy expectations</h2>



The most eye-opening pattern was “bimodality.” Nearly one-fifth of the ecosystems examined showed two separate peaks in root abundance with depth: one in familiar shallow layers and another much farther down, often aligning with deposits of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nitrogen-was-plentiful-for-early-life-on-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nitrogen</a>, phosphorus, or moisture.



In other words, plants were quietly plumbing secondary resource pockets, countering the long-held assumption that root activity simply dwindles the deeper one goes.



“The current understanding of roots is literally too shallow. Aboveground, we have eagle vision - thanks to satellites and remote sensing. But belowground, we have mole vision,” Lu said.



That “mole vision,” she argues, has left major gaps in Earth system models that guide climate policy and land-management decisions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-storage-or-carbon-release"><a></a>Carbon storage - or carbon release?</h2>



The presence of deep roots raises a crucial follow-up: What happens to the carbon that plants ferry into those depths? Avni Malhotra, a co-author and lead investigator on a <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.07.647629v1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">companion paper</a>, notes that outcomes could diverge.



“Deep plant roots may cause increased <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/organic-farming-practices-boost-soil-carbon-storage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">soil carbon storage</a> in one condition or lead to losses in other conditions due to a stimulation of soil microbes,” she said.



Cool, compacted subsoil tends to slow microbial digestion, potentially locking carbon away for centuries.



Yet in some settings, added root exudates might energize buried microbes, accelerating decomposition. Deciding which scenario dominates will require the kind of stratified sampling that NEON has only begun to provide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deep-roots-defy-models">Deep roots defy models</h2>



Global climate models often assume that most biologically relevant actions - plant root growth, microbial decay, nutrient turnover - occur in the topsoil.



Lu’s study indicates that a significant share of plant activity, including carbon allocation, happens far below that zone.



If roots can chase nutrients downward during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/droughts-and-extreme-weather-events-are-escalating/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">droughts</a> or warming events, they may confer more resilience than current simulations capture. Conversely, land-use changes that compact or strip deep horizons could hamper an unseen but vital layer of carbon storage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-putting-root-data-to-work">Putting root data to work</h2>



These subterranean discoveries matter for forestry, agriculture, and conservation. Crop breeders might select varieties with deeper, bimodal rooting patterns to better capture water in arid regions.



Restoration ecologists could prioritize species that drive carbon into stable subsoil pools. 



Policymakers aiming to offset emissions through <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reforestation-cannot-offset-carbon-emissions-from-harvesting-wood/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reforestation</a> or soil-carbon credits will need estimates grounded in full-profile measurements rather than the customary shallow cores.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-roots-store-climate-secrets">Plant roots store climate secrets</h2>



“Scientists and policymakers need to look deeper beneath the Earth’s surface as these overlooked deep soil layers may hold critical keys for understanding and managing ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate,” Lu said. The team envisions denser networks of deep cores, advanced imaging, and sensor arrays able to watch roots grow in real time.



While many unknowns remain - How universal is bimodality? Which soil chemistries foster it? How stable is deep-buried carbon? - the message is cautiously optimistic.



“The good news is plants may already be naturally mitigating climate change more actively than we’ve realized - we just need to dig deeper to fully understand their potential,” Lu concluded.



By illuminating a hidden architecture beneath our feet, the study invites scientists and citizens alike to rethink what lies between the surface and bedrock - and to recognize that the battle against rising CO2 might have powerful, unseen allies in the dark below.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60055-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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