For nearly 10 years, California’s offshore seafloors have been missing a once-abundant, vividly colored predator: the sunflower sea star. 



This large starfish - capable of stretching over 3 feet wide - cruises the ocean floor in hues of orange, yellow, or purple, gliding swiftly on thousands of tube feet. Its multiple arms, which can number up to 24, allow for remarkable mobility.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-restoring-sunflower-sea-stars">Restoring sunflower sea stars</h2>



When a mysterious disease almost wiped out sunflower sea stars in 2013, a domino effect ensued. A large number of purple sea urchins devoured nearly all of Northern California's iconic kelp forests. 



Now, however, scientists are hopeful that the sunflower sea star might soon reclaim its place in the region’s marine environment. 



Several pioneering labs, including ones in the Bay Area and Monterey County, are successfully growing these starfish with the goal of bolstering the species and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunflower-sea-stars-could-help-save-kelp-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restoring balance</a> to local ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sunflower-sea-stars-raised-in-tubs">Sunflower sea stars raised in tubs</h2>



At the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California Academy of Sciences</a> in San Francisco, behind a closed exhibit and through a locked door, biologist Riah Evin has been overseeing 137 sunflower sea stars raised in saltwater jars and tubs. In these containers, the starfish are fed bits of herring to sustain their growth.



These juvenile stars are among the remnants of 11 million embryos that Evin began working with in February. "These are the survivors,” said Evin. “That's way better than I had hoped for.”



Eventually, many of them will be displayed at the Academy of Sciences, giving the public a rare glimpse of a starfish that has all but disappeared from California’s coastal waters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-value-and-conservation-goals">Scientific value and conservation goals</h2>



More importantly, these sunflower stars are crucial to research. By raising them from infancy, Evin and other scientists are contributing to an international conservation effort to better understand the species and protect it from future crises.&nbsp;



Named critically endangered in 2020, sunflower sea stars were the subject of a conservation roadmap in 2022 that called on labs to breed and study them.



If scientists manage to decode the genetics behind their resistance (or susceptibility) to the disease that nearly eradicated them, they may eventually release healthy individuals back into the Pacific Ocean.&nbsp;



The hope is that reintroduced sunflower sea stars could help control the region’s exploding purple urchin populations, paving the way for devastated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-otters-have-protected-california-kelp-forests-for-a-century/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kelp forests</a> to regrow.



“There's a lot of promise in where the research will head,” said Andrew Kim, a research scientist at <a href="https://mlml.sjsu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moss Landing Marine Laboratories</a> on Monterey Bay, who is also growing sunflower sea stars. “I'm very hopeful.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-species-on-the-brink-of-extinction">A species on the brink of extinction</h2>



The statistics are sobering: since 2013, an estimated six billion sunflower sea stars have died from Baja California to Alaska because of an ailment known as sea star wasting disease.&nbsp;



With this critical predator absent, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gray-whales-struggle-as-purple-sea-urchins-destroy-kelp-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">purple sea urchins</a> have proliferated, ravaging entire undersea forests of bull kelp. Scientists say 96% of Northern California’s kelp forests have disappeared over that period.



Kelp forests are essential habitats for numerous marine creatures - from fish and abalone to sea otters. Otters, found south of the Bay, play a protective role by feeding on urchins, but their range does not extend far enough to rescue Northern California’s compromised kelp.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reintroducing-natural-predators">Reintroducing natural predators </h2>



While volunteers have tried “seeding” kelp and removing urchins by hand in select coves, experts believe that reintroducing natural predators like sunflower sea stars (and possibly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-otters-use-tools-to-access-larger-prey-and-protect-their-teeth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sea otters</a>) would be more sustainable and far-reaching. 



Sunflower sea stars are exceptionally effective hunters, moving quickly across the seabed to overtake urchins before extending their stomachs to digest the prey externally. Afterward, only a clean shell remains.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-maximizing-survival-and-preventing-cannabilism">Maximizing survival and preventing cannabilism </h2>



Yet researchers like Evin remain unsure of exactly how to keep these starfish flourishing. Scientists still do not fully understand the disease that decimated them, despite working on the puzzle for over a decade. In labs across the state, only six adult sunflower stars exist, and breeding techniques remain experimental.



“There's a little bit of a 'Thunderdome' going on,” Evin joked while describing the fiercely competitive environment in which younger stars can devour each other if food is scarce. One particularly aggressive individual managed to consume hundreds of its siblings.



Evin is also investigating what diet optimally sustains these stars, testing everything from urchins to prawns. This feeding research aims to maximize survival, preventing the cannibalism that can occur if the starfish lack adequate nutrition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-with-sunflower-sea-star-larvae">Challenges with sunflower sea star larvae </h2>



Back in February, Evin traveled to <a href="https://aquarium.ucsd.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Birch Aquarium</a> in San Diego, where she helped spawn an adult male and female sunflower sea star using a hormone injection. The pair produced billions of eggs and sperm, which fused into embryos. 



Those offspring, divvied up among institutions like the Academy of Sciences and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, are the foundation for current breeding trials.



Maintaining healthy conditions for tiny sea star larvae proved challenging - until Evin discovered they thrived in jars of saltwater spun by automated stirrers purchased from kitchen supply stores. 



The larvae eventually sprouted five arms, but many soon turned on each other, forcing Evin to fine-tune her feeding strategies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-the-mysterious-wasting-disease">Understanding the mysterious wasting disease </h2>



Scientists are also eager to analyze the starfish’s DNA to gain insights into the genetics behind the wasting disease. 



Before any reintroduction to the wild can happen, they must ensure they are not inadvertently reintroducing the pathogen into marine environments. Regulatory agencies want a clearer picture of the disease’s causes and transmission pathways.



“What we don’t want to do is reintroduce (the disease) to recovered sea star populations,” said Ian Kelmartin, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “To get a handle on that, we need to understand what the disease is.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-glimpse-of-hope-in-the-lab">A glimpse of hope in the lab</h2>



Until more is known, the starfish remain confined to facilities like Evin’s. Ashley Kidd, a project manager with the Sunflower Star Lab in Moss Landing, sees these labs as living arks - safe havens for a species on the brink.&nbsp;



“Zoos and aquariums are living arks,” she said. “It is tragic in a way, but very useful if you can use it in time.”



By nurturing sunflower sea stars in captivity, researchers aim to one day restore a key predator to the Pacific Ocean, where it can help rein in purple urchins and nurture the revival of kelp forests.&nbsp;



Whether that vision comes to fruition depends on cracking the mystery of sea star wasting disease and ensuring enough of these starfish can survive - and thrive - back in their underwater realm.



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Sunflower sea stars are nearly extinct, but scientists are growing them

For nearly 10 years, California’s offshore seafloors have been missing a once-abundant, vividly colored predator: the sunflower sea star. This large starfish - capable of stretching over 3 feet wide - cruises the ocean floor in hues of orange, yellow, or purple, gliding swiftly on thousands of tube feet. Its multiple arms, which can number up to 24, allow for remarkable mobility. Restoring sunflower sea stars When a mysterious disease almost wiped out sunflower sea stars in 2013, a domino effect ensued. A large number of purple...

While we are familiar with the ways in which human activities are currently threatening the abundance and diversity of wild species on land, information on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-biodiversity-could-shift-rapidly-due-to-climate-change/">biodiversity</a> changes in the oceans is not as easy to obtain. It’s estimated that intense fishing across the planet’s oceans has led to roughly half of all commercially harvested fish and invertebrate stocks becoming overfished during the 20th&nbsp;century, and the effects of these fisheries on ocean biodiversity are poorly researched and understood.&nbsp;



In a new study, scientists from Spain, the U.S. and Canada, have used the risk categories and criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s ‘Red List of Threatened Species’ to help develop an understanding of changing biodiversity among 52 populations of oceanic tuna, billfish and sharks since1950. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) labels a species as critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), or vulnerable (V) on the basis of how much its population has declined over the past three generations or 10 years, whichever period is longer. Other categories include near threatened (NT) and of least concern (LC).



Dr. Maria José&nbsp;Juan-Jordá from the Basque Research and Technology Alliance, and colleagues, built upon this classification system and developed a continuous Red List Index (RLI) of yearly changes in extinction risk for populations of seven tuna species, six billfish species, and five shark species over the past 70 years. This helped them to understand the health of oceanic biodiversity as well as the overall impacts of fishing mortality and conservation efforts on these populations of predatory fish.



The researchers found that, between 1950 and 2008, the global RLI trajectory of these fish populations grew worse by around 27 percent. This reflected an increasing extinction risk due to fishing pressure for these iconic oceanic predatory species. However, as calls for better monitoring and effective fisheries management strategies were heeded, mortality due to fishing declined and populations of tuna and billfish gradually recovered. For tunas, the RLI started to improve in the 1990s and end of the 2000s whereas the RLI for billfishes deteriorated until the early 2000s, improving only during the past decade.&nbsp;



In particular, since 2008, populations of southern bluefin tuna have improved from critical to vulnerable, while yellowfin tuna, swordfish, blue marlin, striped marlin, and black marlin have moved to the categories near threatened or of least concern. These findings suggest that effective ocean fisheries management has shifted the biodiversity loss curve for tunas and billfishes. These target species are now being more successfully managed to ensure maximum sustainable catches.



However, the same cannot be said for oceanic shark species. The extinction risk for sharks, which remain largely undermanaged, continues to rise. Sharks are often captured as bycatch in other fisheries, and their numbers and biodiversity continue to decline, leading to increasing risk of biodiversity loss. The researchers report that there seems to be high resistance to any measure that might meaningfully curb fishing mortality for sharks, and emphasize that unless effective management actions are adopted to reduce shark mortality for each fishery and shark species – including international trade regulation – their risk trajectories will continue worsening in the future.&nbsp;



The authors state: “Our study connects annual changes in fishing mortality and extinction risk globally over the past 70 years for oceanic tunas, billfishes, and sharks and reveals how effective management for highly valuable commercial species of tunas and billfishes has reversed the biodiversity loss curve while the extinction risk of undermanaged sharks continues to increase.”



In a related Perspective, Matthew Burgess and Sarah Becker write: “The conservation statuses of threatened target species can be improved by managing the fishing industry, which can benefit the industry economically in the long run while allowing the threatened species to recover. However, the protection of high-vulnerability bycatch and non-target species is expected to be more difficult because they will require fisheries to invest in better fishing gear and targeting practices, or reduce fishing efforts, without directly benefiting from these changes.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abj0211">Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Tunas, billfishes, and sharks are sentinels of global ocean health

While we are familiar with the ways in which human...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noble-false-widow-spiders-prey-upon-protected-bat-species/">False widow spiders</a> (Steatoda grossa)&nbsp;are a globally invasive species capable of reproducing year-round. However, little is known about the reproductive behavior of this common species of spider, colloquially known as the cupboard spider, due to its tendency to predominantly live in buildings.&nbsp;



Now, a recent study led by <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/">Simon Fraser University</a> has revealed how female spiders communicate by using pheromones to construct more attractive webs in order to lure mate-seeking males. According to the experts, these females disseminate pheromones from their webs to attract males and deposit contact pheromone components on their webs that induce courtship by the males once they arrive. In addition, the researchers also identified the organ that produces these pheromones (the posterior aggregate silk gland), as well as the chemical structure of the pheromones involved in courtship behavior.



“We also found that female false widow spiders have a sophisticated method to constantly&nbsp;‘mate call’ by slowly breaking down the courtship-inducing pheromone components to sex attractant pheromone components that lures the males in,” said study lead author Andreas Fischer, a doctoral student in Biology at Simon Fraser.



The scientists compared 93 sexually mature, adult virgin female false widow spiders that spun webs on wooden triangular prism scaffolds or bamboo skewers with 70 immature sub-adult females that were also allowed to build webs. Then, they collected web samples and identified their pheromone components, while testing the webs’ ability to attract and induce courtship behavior in male spiders.



The analysis revealed that females are able to actively adjust the attractiveness of their webs to males, by fine-tuning the pH level in their silk and thus controlling the enzyme involved in the transition of contact, courtship-inducing pheromone components to mate attractant pheromone components.



This, while previously only insects were known to actively time pheromone production and dissemination, and to modulate the amount of pheromones they emit, these findings suggest that arachnids, such as web-building spiders, could also be capable of such amazing feats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04072-7">Nature Communications Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

False widow spiders use pheromones to manipulate mates

False widow spiders (Steatoda grossa)&nbsp;are a globally invasive species capable...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumble-bees-can-play-with-objects-for-fun/">Bumblebees</a> use several different cues to locate and identify suitable flowers from which to harvest pollen and nectar. They home in on flower scent and color, but are also sensitive to the electrical field around a flower. These tiny electric fields form from the imbalance of charge between the ground and the atmosphere, and are unique to each species, depending on the plant’s distance from the ground and the shape of the blooms. Flowers use electric fields as an additional means by which to advertise themselves to pollinators, but it seems that human activities can change these electrical cues and make it more difficult for pollinators to sense the presence of suitable flowers.



A study published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus">PNAS&nbsp;Nexus</a> has investigated the effects, on bumblebees, of spraying plants with fertilizers and pesticides. These chemical sprays cause alterations to the electric fields around flowers for up to 25 minutes after exposure, which is far longer than the fluctuations caused by natural phenomena, such as wind. The researchers found that bumblebees were less likely to land on flowers that had been sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides, and that this resulted in a reduction in bee feeding effort.



<a href="https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/ellard-hunting">Dr. Ellard Hunting</a>&nbsp;of Bristol’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/">School of Biological Sciences</a>,&nbsp;and his team, noted that fertilizers did not affect the bees’ vision or sense of smell, and so they set out to mimic the electrical changes caused by fertilizers and pesticides in the field by manipulating flowers electrically. The results of their experiments showed that bumblebees were able to detect and discriminate against the small and dynamic electric field alterations that are caused by the chemicals.



“We know that chemicals are toxic, but we know little about how they affect the immediate interaction between plants and pollinators. Flowers have a range of cues that attract bees to promote feeding and pollination. For instance, bees use cues like flower odor and color, but they also use electric fields to identify plants," explained Dr. Hunting. “A big issue is thus – agrochemical application can distort floral cues and modify behavior in pollinators like bees."



And it is not only bumblebees and sprays of fertilizer or pesticide that are involved here: various other airborne particles such as nanoparticles, exhaust gasses, nano-plastics, and viral particles may have similar impacts, affecting a wide array of organisms that use the electric fields that are virtually everywhere in the natural environment.



“What makes this study important is that it’s the first known example of anthropogenic ‘noise’ interfering with a terrestrial animal’s electrical sense. It’s much like motorboat noise that hinders the ability of fish to detect their predators, or artificial light at night that confuses moths; the fertilizers are a source of noise to bees trying to detect floral electrical cues," said study co-author Sam England.



“This widens our understanding of the multifaceted ways in which human activity is negatively impacting the natural world, which can seem quite depressing, but it will hopefully allow us to introduce or invent solutions to prevent the adverse effects that these chemicals may be having on bees."



“The fact that fertilizers affect pollinator behavior by interfering with the way an organism perceives its physical environment offers a new perspective on how human-made chemicals disturb the natural environment," concluded Dr. Hunting.



The project was funded by the European Research Council and the Swiss National Science Foundation.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fertilizers disrupt flower electrical fields and confuse bees

Bumblebees use several different cues to locate and identify suitable...

Last week, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/index.htm">U.S. National Park Service</a> (NPS) made an online plea aimed at protecting a peculiar species of frog – the Sonoran desert toad (Bufo alvarius) – which secretes a toxin with powerful psychedelic effects, a phenomenon leading an increasing number of people to either lick the back of these toads or collect and store the toxins they secrete for later consumption. While hallucinations and euphoria are common effects of this activity, experts warn that this highly potent toxin can also cause nausea, anxiety, seizures and, in some cases, even death.



“As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking,” the NPS officials said.



Demand for the toads’ secretions has boomed in recent years, with a growing retreat industry offering these chemicals to visitors seeking psychedelic experiences. Sometimes, this experience is even treated as a sacred ceremony, with participants paying thousands of dollars to get access to the hallucinogenic compound.



While it is not clear how many people actually lick the toads, for decades already, users have often dried into crystals and smoked in a pipe the substance in the toxins that the toad excretes when threatened (5-MeO-DMT), in order to experience 15 to 30 minutes of intense hallucinations and euphoria. Although this substance is illegal in the United States, where it is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, it is legal in Mexico, thus attracting a large number of international visitors.



Increased interest in this experience has brought new dangers for this toad, which is found mainly in the Sonoran desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Already targeted by predators such as racoons, and run over on roads by motor vehicles, the toad is currently also the target of poaching, over-harvesting, and illegal trafficking, leading conservation experts to list is as “endangered” in California and “threatened” in Mexico.



The NPS’s online plea can be found <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice/posts/pfbid02mEPQogXSFmUscGiEueFVFGG1FXS6RF41oEGN9qtS819QGusVeGuCzkaZ8TqsY2rQl">here</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

National Park Service warns of the dangers of licking toads

Last week, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) made an...

The Tiger Beach in Bahamas is famous not only for its pristine beauty, but also for being frequented by an animal that might scare some people, but is in fact a major tourist attraction: the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiger-shark-migrations-are-shifting-as-temperatures-rise/">Tiger shark</a> (Galeocerdo cuvier). Since the sea is crystal clear and only five meters deep, the sharks – which often surpass three meters in length – can be seen easily, and are often drawn to the site by local tour operators who throw fish and other food in the water.



Now, a team of researchers from Brazil and the United States has discovered that females of the species which frequently visit the area are larger and have higher hormone levels than conspecifics that spend less time there. These findings point to possible effects of mass tourism on this species.



“The area was dominated by large females, some of them pregnant. Generally speaking, hormone levels were higher in female sharks that frequented the area, where they were fed, than in others that didn’t interact much with divers. Moreover, the former’s nutritional state was better, and they had more omega-3 in their blood,” said study lead author Bianca Rigel, an expert in Biosciences at the <a href="https://www5.usp.br/english/institutional/">University of São Paulo</a>.



“We can’t say whether tourism is or isn’t harming these animals, as we were unable to collect material for testing before and after interaction with divers, which would have been ideal. However, we now have a body of evidence that will be helpful for future evaluations,” added study co-author, a professor of Biology at the same university.



By collecting blood samples from 33 sharks captured in this area, the researchers discovered that females that spent more time there had higher levels of omega-3 and other acids, as well as nitrogen isotopes – most probably due to the foods they were given by tour operators. Moreover, their hormone levels were also strikingly higher compared to those of sharks that were not frequenting the area – by a factor of three in the case of testosterone, four in that of estradiol, and 16.4 in that of corticosteroids.&nbsp;



“We don’t know exactly why this was. Levels of these hormones might have been higher as part of their more aggressive social dominance behavior while they were swimming with many other sharks,” Moreira explained. “Another hypothesis is that they were at a stage in their life cycle when they were ready to reproduce. Juveniles haven’t reached reproductive age and naturally have less of these hormones.”&nbsp;



Although the reasons for these physical alterations are not yet clear, these findings stress the importance of considering life cycle stages, hormone levels, and nutritional states in assessing the impact of tourism on sharks.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.004">Animal Behavior</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tiger sharks that interact with tourists exhibit physical differences

The Tiger Beach in Bahamas is famous not only for...

In a new study led by <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a>, experts report that up to 32 harlequin frog <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/australians-are-unaware-of-their-most-endangered-species/">species</a> which were believed to be extinct have been rediscovered in the wild. The researchers say their work provides a “glimmer of hope” against a backdrop of grim narratives around biodiversity, especially for amphibians.&nbsp;



The scientists hope the research project, which involved a combination of literature review and field work, will create a sense of urgency to better protect and conserve these rediscovered species.



“I can’t tell you how special it is to hold something we never thought we’d see again,” said study lead author Kyle Jaynes. "We want people to walk away from this with a glimmer of hope that we can still address the problems of the biodiversity crisis.



“But rediscovery does not equal recovery. This story isn’t over for these frogs, and we’re not where we want to be in terms of conservation and protection. We still have a lot to learn and a lot to do.”



While harlequin frogs that were thought to be extinct have been reappearing over the last two decades, these discoveries were reported as isolated events. As part of the study, new genetic data has been collected that will help inform conservation efforts.&nbsp;



“This study opens up a lot of other questions,” said Professor Sarah Fitzpatrick. “For example, why are these frogs persisting? What we found points to the fact that there probably isn’t a single explanation. And now that we’ve described these frogs, how do we ensure their recovery?”



“We really want people to understand how important our partnerships are. We were invited into this work by our Ecuadorian colleagues. They’ve been working tirelessly on these challenges for decades. There are so many things that they bring to this work that make it possible.”



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

Dozens of frog species rediscovered in Ecuador

In a new study led by Michigan State University, experts...

Beavers are famous for building <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/beaver-dams-cold-water-fish/">dams</a>. They do this in order to create a pond in which they can then build a lodge with an underwater entrance. The lodge is made of sticks and mud, and it is a place where beavers can stay safe and warm, raise their young, store food for winter and hide from predators such as wolves, coyotes and mountain lions. The dams modify the natural habitat such that new ecosystems are created and this provides suitable conditions for other wetland species.&nbsp;



Apart from creating wetlands, however, beaver dams also control water flow downstream, reduce turbidity, prevent erosion and help to cleanse water of contaminants from pesticides and fertilizers. And now, a new study has revealed that, as climate change worsens water quality and threatens ecosystems, beaver dams may actually help reduce the damage.



In a report published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34022-0">Nature Communications</a>, a team of experts led by Stanford University have found that beaver dams can have a significant positive influence on water quality. In fact, this influence turns out to be far greater than the influence of climate-driven, seasonal extremes in precipitation. The wooden barriers raise water levels upstream, diverting water into surrounding soils and secondary waterways, collectively called a riparian zone. These zones act like filters, straining out excess nutrients and contaminants before water re-enters the main channel downstream.



“As we’re getting drier and warmer in the mountain watersheds in the American West, that should lead to water quality degradation,” said study senior author Professor&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/scott-fendorf">Scott Fendorf</a>. “Yet unbeknownst to us prior to this study, the outsized influence of beaver activity on water quality is a positive counter to climate change.”



The opportunity to study the effects of a beaver dam on water quality came about by chance, rather than being the result of careful planning. As a PhD student in Fendorf’s lab in 2017, lead study author Christian Dewey had started doing field work along the East River, a main tributary of the Colorado River near Crested Butte in central Colorado. Initially, Dewey had set out to track seasonal changes in hydrology, and riparian zone impacts on nutrients and contaminants in a mountainous watershed.



“Completely by luck, a beaver decided to build a dam at our study site,” said Dewey, who is now a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University (whose mascot, incidentally, is a beaver). “The construction of this beaver dam afforded us the opportunity to run a great natural experiment.”



The researchers analyzed data on water levels recorded hourly by sensors installed in the river and throughout the riparian area. They also collected water samples, including from below the ground’s surface, to monitor nutrient and contaminant levels. This information was then used to compare water quality along this stretch of the East River during a dry year (2018), with water quality in the following year, when water levels were unusually high. In addition, these year-long datasets were compared with measurements of water quality made during the three-month period, starting in late July 2018, when the beaver dam blocked the river.&nbsp;



Normally, during periods of drought, as less water flows through rivers and streams, the concentrations of contaminants and excess nutrients, such as nitrogen (in the form of nitrates), increase. These contaminants often come from fertilizers or herbicides that are used on surrounding agricultural land and enter the rivers as runoff. Major downpours and seasonal snowmelt are then needed to flush out the contaminants and restore water quality.&nbsp;



Beaver dams trap water in the form of a pond behind the wall. This not only slows the flow of water, but also creates a difference in pressure between the water above the dam wall and below it. The increased pressure pushes water from the dam into the surrounding soils where microbes use the contaminants, particularly nitrates, for their own metabolic needs.



Warm, dry summers following spring snowmelt also produce big level changes, which generate a pressure gradient that pushes water into surrounding soils. The larger the pressure gradient, the greater the flow of water and nitrates into soils, where microbes transform nitrate and other contaminants into innocuous substances.



In the East River, the researchers found that the increase in pressure gradient was at least 10 times greater with the dam present than it was during the summer peak without the dam. This applied in both the high-water year (2019) and the drought year (2018). In other words, the effects of the beaver dam exceeded climatic hydrological extremes - in either direction of drought or abundant snowmelt - by an order of magnitude.



“Beavers are countering water quality degradation and improving water quality by producing simulated hydrological extremes that dwarf what the climate is doing,” said Professor Fendorf.



While it was present, the beaver dam boosted the removal of unwanted nitrogen from the study section of the East River by a massive 44 percent over the seasonal extremes. Nitrogen is an especially pernicious problem for water quality as it promotes algal growth which, when the algae die and decompose, uses up the supply of oxygen in the water and makes the ecosystem unsuitable other aquatic organisms.&nbsp;



The role of beavers and their dams in filtering and cleaning water resources is likely to increase in importance as climate change produces greater variability and more extreme weather conditions. &nbsp;



“We would expect climate change to induce hydrological extremes and degradation of water quality during drought periods, and in this study, we’re seeing that would indeed have been true if it weren’t for this other ecological change taking place, which is the beavers, their proliferating dams, and their growing populations," said Professor Fendorf.



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



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Beaver dams mitigate the effects of climate change on rivers

Beavers are famous for building dams. They do this in...

While the scientific community has previously warned about an alarming decline in insect populations, not much has been done to address this issue on a global scale. Now, an international team of experts is providing a convincing overview of the role of climate change and climatic extremes in driving insect decline.&nbsp;



"If no action is taken to better understand and reduce the impact of climate change on insects, we will drastically limit our chances of a sustainable future with healthy ecosystems." This is the warning from a paper composed by 70 scientists from 19 countries around the world as part of the of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1553">Scientists’ Warning</a> series.&nbsp;



"Climate change aggravates other human-mediated environmental problems," said lead author Jeffrey Harvey from the <a href="https://nioo.knaw.nl/en">Netherlands Institute of Ecology</a>. "Including habitat loss and fragmentation, various forms of pollution, overharvesting and invasive species."



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-play-important-roles-in-ecosystems/">Insects</a> play critical roles in many ecosystems, making this problem incredibly urgent, as ecosystem loss is on the rise.



"The gradual increase in global surface temperature impacts insects in their physiology, behaviour, phenology, distribution and species interactions. But also, more and longer lasting extreme events leave their traces," said Harvey.



While fruit flies, butterflies and flour beetles have the capacity to survive heat waves, they can become sterilized and unable to reproduce. Bumblebees, in particular, are very sensitive to heat, and climate change is now considered the main factor in the decline of several North American species.



"Cold-blooded insects are among the groups of organisms most seriously affected by climate change, because their body temperature and metabolism are strongly linked with the temperature of the surrounding air," said Harvey.



Insects also play a critical role in supporting the global economy through services such as pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling and decomposition of waste. These vitally important services help to sustain humanity and provide billions of dollars annually to the global economy.&nbsp;



"The late renowned ant ecologist Edward O. Wilson, once argued that ‘it is the little things that run the world’. And they do!’" said Harvey.



The ability for insects to adapt to global warming is further impacted by human threats such as habitat destruction and pesticides. Heatwaves and droughts can drastically harm insect populations in the short term, making insects less able to adapt to more gradual warming.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The paper includes solutions and management strategies. Individuals can help by caring for different wild plants, providing food and shelter for insects during climate extremes. Reducing the use of pesticides and other chemicals is also recommended.&nbsp;



"Insects are tough little critters and we should be relieved that there is still room to correct our mistakes," said Harvey. "We really need to enact policies to stabilise the global climate. In the meantime, at both government and individual levels, we can all pitch in and make urban and rural landscapes more insect-friendly."



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Insects need urgent help to survive climate change

While the scientific community has previously warned about an alarming...

Cats often exhibit <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-chemical-that-triggers-aggression-in-women-blocks-it-in-men/">aggression</a> toward humans and other problematic behaviors, yet the underlying causes of such issues have remained relatively unknown. In a new study from the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a>, experts have found a correlation between poor socialization with humans and the development of fearfulness and aggression in cats.&nbsp;



"Problematic behavior is a remarkable welfare issue in cats (Felis catus), as it is one of the most common reasons for relinquishment. The probability of developing problematic behaviors is likely influenced by several variables, but these remain little studied," wrote the researchers.



"In this study, we examined the associations of fearfulness, aggression toward humans, and excessive grooming with nearly thirty variables in a survey dataset of over 3,200 cats."



"Poor socialization with humans and a history of being a rescue cat were associated with higher fearfulness, indicating that the proper socialization of kittens is beneficial for avoiding fear-related problematic behaviors. Overall, our study highlights the complexity of three problematic behaviors in cats."



According to study lead author Salla Mikkola, the team wanted to find out what factors are associated with the problematic behavior of cats, such as fearfulness, aggression towards humans and excessive grooming. "We utilized a survey dataset previously collected in our research, which we have already used to investigate the construction of the feline personality."



The survey included statements on the pet's reaction to strangers, sudden noises and changes at home. Survey respondents were also asked about excessive grooming and signs of aggression toward humans.  These included scratching or attempts to bite in conjunction with care, such as when being brushed. 



“We investigated the link between these problematic behavioral and personality traits, and almost 30 behavioural, environmental and biological factors. For example, the socialization of cats with humans was associated with fearfulness," said Mikkola.



"Cats who had come into contact with unfamiliar adults and children under 12 weeks of age only a few times or not at all were more fearful than cats who met strangers on a weekly or daily basis. Fearful cats also received, on average, higher scores for litter box issues, aggression and excessive grooming."



Professor Hannes Lohi noted that there was less aggression and fearfulness in households with more than one cat, but the reason for this is not yet clear. "It may be that the companionship of other cats is an important stimulus for cats, or alternatively, people don’t want to take a mate for their aggressive cat due to its nature. Research carried out through a different design is needed to explain causalities."



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105265">iScience</a>.



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

Kittens who socialize with humans are less fearful, aggressive

Cats often exhibit aggression toward humans and other problematic behaviors,...

A new study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-play-an-active-role-in-plant-pollination/">bats</a> play a fundamental role in keeping temperate forests growing by helping to protect young trees. According to the experts, without bats to prey upon them and hold their populations in check, insects that mulch on tree seedlings go wild, doing three to nine times more damage than when bats are present.



“A lot of folks associate bats with caves. But as it turns out, the habitat you could really associate with almost every bat species in North America is forest. And this is true globally. Forests are just really important to bats,”&nbsp;said study senior author Joy O’Keefe, an assistant professor and wildlife extension specialist at the University of Illinois. “We wanted to ask the question: Are bats important to forests? And in this study, we’ve demonstrated they are.”



While previous studies have proven bats’ insect-control services in crop fields and tropical forests, their similarly critical role in temperate forests has not yet been investigated. “It’s especially important for us to learn how bats affect forests, given that bats are declining due to diseases like white-nose syndrome or collisions with wind turbines. This type of work can reveal the long-term consequences of bat declines,” said study lead author Elizabeth Beilke, a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Sciences at the same university.



The scientists built large mesh-enclosed structures in an Indiana forest to exclude the eight bat species which frequent this region, while allowing insects free movement in and out. Moreover, the researchers made sure that birds had daytime access to the plots. Then, they measured the number of insects on oak and hickory seedlings in the forest understory, together with the amount of defoliation per seedling.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that, in plots where bats were excluded, there were three times as many insects and five times more defoliation on the seedlings than in the control plots. When analyzed separately, oaks experienced none times more defoliation and hickories three times more in the absence of bats.



“We know from other research that oaks and hickories are ecologically important, with acorns and hickory nuts providing food sources for wildlife and the trees acting as hosts to native insects. Bats use both oaks and hickories as roosts, and now we see they may be using them as sources of prey insects, as well. Our data suggest bats and oaks have a mutually beneficial relationship,” Beilke explained.



“I think it’s important to stress the value of this type of experimental work with bats, to really try to dig into what their ecosystem services are in a deliberate manner. While we can probably extrapolate out and say bats are important in other types of forest, I wouldn’t discount the value of doing the same kind of work in other systems, especially if there are questions about certain insect or tree species and how bats affect them. So rather than extrapolating out across the board, let’s do the work to try to figure out how bats are benefiting plants. And before they’re gone, hopefully,” O’Keefe concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3903">Ecology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bats protect young trees from insect damage

A new study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electric-fish-large-brains/">fish</a> look downward when they swim. By combining simulations of zebrafish’s brain, native environment, and spatially-varying swimming behavior into a comprehensive computational model, the experts discovered that looking down while swimming forward is an adaptive behavior that evolved to help fish self-stabilize, for instance when swimming against a current.



As water moves, fish are continuously trying to self-stabilize in order to remain in place rather than getting swept away in a moving stream. While focusing on other fish, plants, or pieces of debris could give fish a false sensation that they are moving, looking at the stable riverbed below offers them more reliable information about their swimming direction and speed.



“It’s similar to sitting on a train car that isn’t moving. If the train next to yours starts to pull to away from the station, it can trick you into thinking you are moving too,” said study lea author Emma Alexander, an assistant professor of Computer Science at Northwestern.&nbsp;



“The visual cue from the other train is so strong that it overrides the fact that all of your other senses are telling you that you are sitting still. That’s exactly the same phenomenon that we are studying in fish. There are many misleading motion cues above them, but the most abundant and reliable signals are from the bottom of the river.”



These findings could inform groundbreaking designs for artificial vision systems and sophisticated bio-inspired robots. “If you were making a fish-inspired robot and you just looked at its anatomy, you might think ‘the eyes are pointing sideways, so I’m going to point my cameras sideways. But it turns out that the eyes are pointing sideways because they are balancing several tasks. We think they point sideways because it’s a compromise — they look upward to hunt and downward to swim,” Alexander concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.009">Current Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why do fish look down when they swim?

A new study led by Northwestern University has found that...

Australia is the fourth-worse country in the world in terms of species extinctions, and is in the top three globally for critically endangered animals. Although this week’s Federal Budget included a $224 million allocation to help protecting these species, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a> (UniSA) has revealed an overwhelming public ignorance of Australia’s most threatened species, a factor that is most likely significantly contributing to the current extinction crisis.



By polling over 300 zoo visitors and other community members to assess their awareness of seven <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/endangered-species/">endangered species</a> at risk of extinction within the next decade – the Tasmanian devil, the Leadbeater’s possum, the eastern barred bandicoot, the helmeted honeyeater, the southern corroboree frog, the Lord Howe Island (LHI) stick insect, and the orange-bellied parrot – the researchers found that over 90 percent of people failed to recognize six of these seven species, the exception being the iconic Tasmanian devil.



“There are huge gaps in community knowledge regarding native Australian wildlife, with less than eight per cent of people able to correctly name six of seven endangered species when shown photographs,” said study lead author Elisa Pearson, a conservation psychologist at UniSA.



“Apart from the Tasmanian devil, which 86 percent of people recognized, the level of familiarity and knowledge of our vulnerable species is limited. Misidentification is also common, particularly the eastern barred bandicoot which is often mistaken for a bilby.”



The researchers highlight a clear link between species recognition, likeability, and conservation support, arguing that people are far more likely to donate toward the conservation of Australia’s iconic kangaroo, koala, and wombat species, despite them being in fact not endangered. The most likable Australian animals - the koala and the kangaroo – also reflect the “similarity principle,” which suggests that people tend to prefer animals that are more similar to them, and that when only a limited number of species can be conserved, mammals are always favored over other species, regardless of their endangered status.



“Apart from the likeability factor, our study showed that being able to recognize species increased people’s willingness to support their conservation, so that is a starting point we need to address,” Dr. Pearson said.



Endangered insects are unfortunately disliked by nearly 85 percent of people, a factor putting their survival at great risk. However, as the scientists argue, these perceptions could be changed through clever marketing initiatives.



“The LHI stick insect has some exceptional qualities, such as their resilience and survival against all odds, their ability to reproduce without males, their tendency to form large social groups during the day, or even the fact that their foot pads are heart shaped. If people knew these facts the likeability factor would likely shoot up,” Dr. Pearson concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126257">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Australians are unaware of their most endangered species

Australia is the fourth-worse country in the world in terms...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...