Urban coyotes are thriving in cities, but not for the reasons one might expect. A recent study reveals that human-related factors, rather than access to natural habitats, have a stronger impact on their survival.&nbsp;



Researchers tracking coyotes in Chicago discovered that densely populated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-living-causes-chronic-stress-for-some-coyotes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human areas</a> are linked to longer coyote lifespans, overturning the conventional belief that wildlife fares better in more natural settings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-presence-plays-a-surprising-role">Human presence plays a surprising role</h2>



“What we found was really interesting, in that the societal characteristics seem to play a much more important role in predicting coyote survival time than the environmental characteristics,” said Emily Zepeda, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Ohio State University</a>.&nbsp;



“And then we found this positive effect of human population density on survival time. Both of those things are unexpected because we usually associate human activity with detrimental effects on wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-urban-coyote-research-project">The Urban Coyote Research Project</h2>



The study, recently published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01643-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Urban Ecosystems</a>, stems from the Urban Coyote Research Project, a long-term study of coyote ecology in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.&nbsp;



This research, led by wildlife ecologist Stan Gehrt, has monitored the behavior and ecology of Chicago’s estimated 4,000 coyotes, offering rare insights into how they adapt to urban life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-coyote-survival">Tracking coyote survival</h2>



For this study, researchers analyzed movement data from 214 coyotes tracked between 2013 and 2021. Using the length of time each coyote was monitored as a proxy for survival, they evaluated societal and environmental factors such as neighborhood income, human density, road density, and proximity to parks.



The findings revealed that human population density positively influenced coyote survival. Coyotes in areas with low human density tended to have shorter lifespans, while those in densely populated areas lived longer. Interestingly, the interaction between income and density also played a role.&nbsp;



In low-density areas, income had little effect on survival, likely due to the lack of human presence. However, in moderate- to high-density neighborhoods, coyotes in lower-income areas were 1.5 times more likely to survive to age two than those in wealthier areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-resources-and-competition-in-urban-settings">Resources and competition in urban settings</h2>



The researchers theorize that higher human population density provides urban coyotes with essential resources like food and shelter, helping them endure harsh conditions such as Chicago winters.&nbsp;



“We’ve hypothesized that population density may have a positive effect because it’s actually providing resources like human-related structures or food that allow coyotes to weather the harsh conditions of the winter, which is a major mortality factor for Chicago coyotes,” Zepeda explained.



However, these benefits may come at a cost in higher-income areas, where vegetation and better waste management can attract more coyotes, leading to increased competition and disease transmission.&nbsp;



“There might be more individuals in those areas, but survival time may be shorter there,” Zepeda said. “You might die younger in an area where there are a lot of competitors.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adaptability-of-coyotes">Adaptability of coyotes</h2>



Surprisingly, the study found no significant link between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-species-are-shifting-their-habitats-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural habitats</a> and coyote survival. Parks and nature preserves, often assumed to be ideal environments for coyotes, did not seem to offer a survival advantage.&nbsp;



“Anecdotally, we see really high densities of coyotes in nature preserves and urban parks. That’s often where you see coyotes in the city if you see them at all,” Zepeda said.



The researchers speculate that this finding could result from a variety of factors, including limitations in how habitat types are classified on city maps or more frequent hunting and trapping in natural areas.&nbsp;



Alternatively, it may highlight the adaptability of coyotes, which seem capable of thriving in urbanized environments despite their preference for natural habitats.&nbsp;



“It could speak to how adaptable they are that they might prefer natural habitat, but at least in terms of survival, they can do just as well in more urbanized areas,” Zepeda added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-societal-factors-and-urban-ecosystems">Societal factors and urban ecosystems</h2>



This study adds to growing evidence that societal factors affecting human populations also influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-biodiversity-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-attainable-for-everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urban ecosystems</a>. The presence or absence of humans, combined with the conditions in which they live, may overshadow natural influences on wildlife survival.&nbsp;



Gehrt’s long-term research emphasizes the importance of understanding these dynamics as urban areas expand.



As urban ecosystems continue to evolve, studies like this provide critical insights into how wildlife interacts with human populations.&nbsp;



Further research could explore specific societal factors - such as waste management practices or public attitudes toward coyotes - and their influence on urban <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-disturbing-details-about-the-state-of-earths-wildlife/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife</a>.



By better understanding these relationships, cities can develop strategies to foster coexistence between humans and animals, creating urban environments where both can thrive.



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Coyotes live longer in densely populated human areas

Urban coyotes are thriving in cities, but not for the reasons one might expect. A recent study reveals that human-related factors, rather than access to natural habitats, have a stronger impact on their survival.&nbsp; Researchers tracking coyotes in Chicago discovered that densely populated human areas are linked to longer coyote lifespans, overturning the conventional belief that wildlife fares better in more natural settings. Human presence plays a surprising role “What we found was really interesting, in that the societal characteristics seem to play a much more important...

Newborn dairy calves are most often housed separately from each other after being removed from their mothers. Farmers state that keeping calves separate reduces the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-food-diets-linked-to-rise-in-autoimmune-diseases/">disease</a> transmission, prevents the calves from suckling on one another, and enables more careful feeding and monitoring of individual calves during the first weeks or months of their lives.&nbsp;



Approximately 75 percent and 60 percent of preweaning dairy calves in the United States and Europe, respectively, are housed individually, despite the growing criticisms of this practice in terms of its impacts on calf behavior, welfare and health. The alternative of raising young calves in social groups has, however, received increasing support from scientific quarters and from the concerned public.&nbsp;



A new study published this week in <a href="https://www.jdscommun.org/">JDS Communications</a>, the journal of the American Dairy Science Association, quantifies the motivation of socially naive calves to seek companionship with another calf, when they have the choice.&nbsp;



“Past behavioral studies have indicated that lack of social interaction can negatively affect calves’ feed intake, social skills, coping abilities, and cognitive performance,” stated lead investigator Dr. Marina von Keyserlingk. “However, previous studies on social motivation among young cattle have not addressed the first six to eight weeks of life, when individual housing is the most common.”&nbsp;



In the study, 10 male Holstein calves (average age 5.4 days) were separated into pairs, one of each pair being termed the “subject” while the other was the “partner.” Each pair was housed in a facility consisting of a central home pen with adjacent pens to the left and the right. Pens were separated by one-way push-gates made of plexiglass sheets. After the morning feed of milk, the subject was placed in the central pen, the partner was randomly allocated (by coin toss) to one of the side pens, and the other side pen was left empty.



For 15 days, the calves were checked twice daily at the time of milk feeding (approximately 0800 and 1600 h). At that time, the subject would be found in the central pen, or could have pushed his way through the door into a side pen, either the one containing the partner calf, or the one that was empty. The push-gates swung closed after a calf passed through and would not open in the opposite direction. The subject was returned to the central pen at feeding time.



Each time the subject had pushed his way into one of the side pens, the weight of the gate into that side pen would be increased. This meant that gates were relatively light to push open at the start of the study, when calves were learning the system, but they became more difficult to push as the experiment continued. The maximum weight pushed and number of pushes by each subject calf over the 15-day trial were recorded separately for the two side pens.&nbsp;



“Each time the test calf pushed open the gate to access a side pen, he would remain in it until the next milk feeding (approximately 0800 and 1600 h), at which time he was returned to the central home pen,” explained Dr. von Keyserlingk. “After each successful pushing event, additional weight was added to the gate – initially a small amount, then incrementally higher.”&nbsp;



With this design, the researchers were able to quantify the motivation of the young calves to access company in the form of the partner calf. No prior training of the subject calf was necessary, and the calves learned quickly how to open the gates after first coincidentally pushing a gate open as they investigated it.



The researchers found that, of the 10 calves tested, 8 pushed more weight for the pen on the social side, 1 pushed more for the empty side, and 1 pushed the same weight for both sides. Over the 15-day trial, calves pushed gates weighing, on average 1.0 kg more in order to access the social pen. All calves but one opened a gate on the first day of testing, with the remaining calf pushing a gate open for the first time on the third day.&nbsp;



The results indicate that young calves are motivated to seek full social contact, even when they have to work harder to achieve this. They are clearly social animals and derive benefit from contact with other calves.&nbsp;



A recent U.S. survey found that approximately half the participants considered individual housing of calves unacceptable, often mentioning the lack of socialization as a major issue. The results of the current study add to the body of research evidence that highlights the importance of social contact for calves.&nbsp;



The authors also note that the testing method used in this study did not require training, but calves quickly learned to use the gates on their own, suggesting that this task could be readily used to assess spontaneous motivation in other situations as well.



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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

Dairy calves prefer to be housed with a companion

Newborn dairy calves are most often housed separately from each...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">University of Columbia</a> and the <a href="https://www.wild-tiger.org/">Wild Tiger</a> non-profit organization has found that the United States plays a much greater role in illegal tiger parts trade than previously thought. While most of the studies on tiger trafficking patterns focused on 13 Asian countries, the new findings show that the United States was responsible for almost half of the global illegal tiger trade between 2003 and 2012.



Tigers are an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/switching-to-solar-energy-affects-endangered-florida-panthers/">endangered</a> species, with less than 5,000 specimens estimated to remain in the wild. Illegal trade in tiger parts (mostly for medicinal purposes) plays a significant role in threatening tiger populations worldwide.



While China has been and remains the main destination and consumer of tiger parts, data from the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services</a> shows that the United States’ import seizures of tiger parts between 2003 and 2012 represented a staggering 46.8 percent of total global seizures.



“People in the U.S. have this false notion that the illegal trade in tiger parts is half a world away. In reality, we in the U.S. are involved in and driving a large portion of the illegal trade,” said study lead author Sarika Khanwilkar, a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University and the founder of the non-profit&nbsp;organization Wild Tiger. “This research is a step to better understand the role of the U.S. in the global tiger trade, which will improve policy and enforcement and direct future research efforts.”



According to Khanwilkar and her colleagues, there were 292 seizures of tiger parts illegally entering the United States between 203 and 2012, the majority of them being imported from China (34.2 percent) and Vietnam (29.5 percent). However, since the use of digital platforms to trade illegal wildlife products has increased, and economic prosperity has expanded demand, the current study may underestimate the full scale of illegal tiger parts trafficking in the United States.



In order to better monitor the source and trafficking routes of tiger parts, the researchers propose enhancing detection efforts in main hotspots for illegal tiger imports such as San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta. They also recommend using forensic DNA analysis to determine the origin and source (wild or captive) of the tiger parts and thus help providing guidance on where to focus conservation and enforcement efforts.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.622">Conservation Science and Practice</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

The U.S. plays a major role in the illegal tiger trade

New research led by the University of Columbia and the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.rsmas.miami.edu/">University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science</a> has found that the locations and timing of tiger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-important-deserve-protections/">shark</a> movements in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean have shifted due to rising ocean <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-heatwaves-could-severely-affect-the-fishing-industry/">temperatures</a> caused by climate change. By pushing tiger sharks outside of protected areas, these climate-induced factors make the animals more vulnerable to commercial fishing.&nbsp;



The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is the largest cold-blooded predator in tropical and warm-temperate seas and oceans. While waters off the United States’ northeast coast have historically been too cold for these fierce predators, recent increases in ocean temperatures have made them suitable.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag, the director of the University of Miami’s <a href="https://sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/">Shark Research and Conservation Program</a>. “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.”



Professor Hammerschlag and his colleagues analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, together with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/cooperative-shark-tagging-program">Cooperative Shark Tagging Program</a>, in order to assess how changes in water temperatures affected shark habitats and movements.



They found that during the last decade (when ocean temperatures were the warmest on record), for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. Moreover, they also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



According to the scientists, these results have greater ecosystem implications. “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.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16045">Global Change 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

Tiger shark migrations are shifting as temperatures rise

A new study led by the University of Miami Rosenstiel...

Thailand is often overlooked in terms of its natural beauty and biodiversity, even as its natural environments face the threats of development that loom everywhere in the world. Illustrating this point is the discovery of a new genus of tarantula that lives inside of bamboo stalks.



Dr. Narin Chomphuphuang, an arachnologist at Khon Kaen University, explained the context of the discovery. “Few people realize how much of Thailand's wildlife remains undocumented. Thai forests now cover only 31.64% of the country's total land area. We are primarily on a mission to research and save the biodiversity and wildlife within these forests from extinction, especially species-specific microhabitats.”



The tarantula was first found by JoCho Sippawat, a famous Thai wildlife YouTuber, who later teamed up with Dr. Chomphuphuang. The pair also collaborated with Chaowalit Songsangchote of Kasetsart University, who formally described the newly discovered tarantula.



The scientists named the spider Taksinus bambus, the generic name honors the Thai king Taksin the Great, who was once governor of Tak province - where the tarantula was found. Bambus is in reference to the arachnids' curious way of living in bamboo, something never before seen in a tarantula.&nbsp;



The spiders themselves do not create holes or cracks in bamboo stalks but instead rely on other animals such as bamboo worms, carpenter beetles or rodents to do this work. Once the spider moves into a bamboo stalk, the animal lines the new home with silk.&nbsp;



There are other arboreal tarantulas found in southeast Asia, but this is the first to be discovered in northern Thailand. It’s also unusual because it specializes in one particular type of plant.



&nbsp;“We examined all of the trees in the area where the species was discovered. This species is unique because it is associated with bamboo, and we have never observed this tarantula species in any other plant. Bamboo is important to this tarantula, not only in terms of lifestyle but also because it can only be found in high hill forests in the northern part of Thailand, at an elevation of about 1,000 m. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are now Thailand's rarest tarantulas,” said Dr. Chomphuphuang.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">ZooKeys</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



Image Credit: JoCho Sippawat

New tarantula found in Thailand lives in bamboo stalks

Thailand is often overlooked in terms of its natural beauty...

A study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03599-9">Nature Scientific Reports</a> reveals fascinating new details about Struthiosaurus austriacus, a relatively small nodosaurid from the Ankylosaur family that lived in the Late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-pterosaurs-were-fierce-competitors-in-the-late-cretaceous/">Cretaceous</a>. The experts report that the dinosaur had a lonesome lifestyle due to its inferior sense of hearing and sluggish movement.&nbsp;



Ankylosaurs are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs that grew up to eight meters and had bodies cluttered with bony plates and spikes, resembling “living fortresses.” Some of their most representative members, such as ankylosaurids, has a club tail, while nodosaurids were famous for their elongated spikes on their necks and shoulders.



While many dinosaurs were rather gregarious creatures, living in social groups, at least some ankylosaurs seemed to prefer a lonesome life. By studying with a high-resolution computer tomograph the fossil braincase of a specimen discovered near Muthmannsdorf, a town south of Vienna, Austria, a team of paleontologists led by the <a href="https://www.uni-greifswald.de/">University of Greifswald</a> and <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a>, has found that Struthiosaurus austriacus most probably had significant difficulties in locomotion and audition, which made it less prone to social interaction.



The dinosaur’s flocculus, an evolutionary old part of the brain responsible for the fixation of the eyes during motions of the head, neck, and body was very small. Together with the extremely short lagena (the part of the inner ear where hearing takes place), this feature suggests that the dinosaur probably had an exceptionally sluggish lifestyle compared to other species.&nbsp;



“In contrast to its Northamerican relative Euoplocephalus, which had a tail club and a clear flocculus on the brain cast, Struthiosaurus austriacus may have rather relied on its body armor for protection,” said study lead author Marco Shade, a paleontologist at the University of Griefswald.



“The short anterior and angular lateral semicircular canals, combined with the relatively shortest dinosaurian cochlear duct known so far and the lack of a floccular recess suggest a rather inert lifestyle without the necessity of sophisticated senses for equilibrium and hearing in&nbsp;S. austriacus. These observations agree with an animal that adapted to a comparatively inactive lifestyle with limited social interactions,” concluded the study authors.



Image Credit: © Fabrizio De Rossi



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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&nbsp;

Late Cretaceous dinosaur was sluggish and nearly deaf

A study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports reveals...

Florida is rapidly increasing the installation of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) facilities, aiming to decrease greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/u-s-greenhouse-emissions-rebounded-in-2021/">emissions</a> and mitigate climate change. Over the next decade, the solar capacity of the state is expected to increase from 1,743 to 12,537 megawatts. However, the expansion of sustainable energy comes with a cost: the installation of USSE facilities may significantly impede the habitats and movements of an already endangered species, the Florida panther.



This magnificent animal once ranged throughout the entire southeastern United States. Today, it is restricted to roughly five percent of its historical range in South Florida. The panthers need corridors for dispersal and have extremely large home ranges of up to 200 square miles. Their survival relies on their ability to move unimpeded from one protected area to another through wildlife corridors.



By using panther radio-telemetry data collected by the <a href="https://myfwc.com/">Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission</a> (FWC) from 1981 to 2020, a research team led by <a href="https://www.fau.edu/">Florida Atlantic University</a> (FAU) analyzed the impact the installation of USSE facilities may have on panther habitat suitability and mobility. The scientists found nine facilities located within major corridors currently used by Florida panthers, as well as over 20 other facilities that may impede to some degree the animals’ core habitats and dispersal areas.



“Our study suggests that in the drive to shift our energy production to carbon neutral sources, while maintaining maximum profitability, wildlife outside human dominated landscapes with large ranges and dispersal potentials may be pushed into less favorable habitat or cut off completely from available habitat by degradation of corridors,” said study senior author Olena V. Leskova, a doctoral student in Geosciences at FAU.



“Formally protecting and enhancing the remaining corridors between core areas at the landscape-scale will potentially ameliorate, or mitigate, the impacts already evident after installation of some facilities, and may prevent foreseeable impacts with additional planned facilities,” added study co-author Scott H. Markwith, a professor of Geosciences at FAU.



“Restoring dispersal corridors and gene flow throughout Peninsular Florida is critical to the Florida panther, its prey, and ancillary species that benefit from a connected Florida ecosystem. This, in turn, will benefit biodiversity and species resiliency at the landscape-scale.”



The researchers expect other species, such as gopher tortoises, Florida scrub jays, eastern indigo snakes, Florida black bears, or Florida burrowing owls, to be affected by the building of these large facilities in parts of their territories too.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652664">Journal of Applied 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

Switching to solar energy affects endangered Florida panthers

Florida is rapidly increasing the installation of utility-scale solar energy...

On Monday, January 10, 2022, a new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-are-arriving-with-ships-in-antarctica/">species</a> of rainfrog recently discovered on the sky island of Cerro Chucantí in eastern Panama has been named after the famous environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Pristimantis gretathunbergae was discovered by an international team of researchers funded by <a href="https://www.rainforesttrust.org/">Rainforest Trust</a>, a nonprofit environmental organization.



“Rainforest Trust is deeply honored to sponsor the naming of this exquisite and threatened Panamanian frog species for Greta Thunberg. Greta more than anyone reminds us that the future of every species on Earth depends on what we do right now to end climate change,” said Rainforest Trust CEO James Deutsch.



The research team that discovered this rainfrog was led by Abel Batista, a herpetologist at the <a href="http://www.unachi.ac.pa/">Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí</a> (Panama) and Konrad Mebert, an independent researcher previously affiliated with the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html">University of Basel</a> (Switzerland). The two scientists have collaborated for more than ten years and described together 12 new species.



Discovering Pristimantis gretathunbergae has not been an easy task. Reaching the frog’s habitat on Cerro Chucantí, a sky island surrounded by lowland tropical rainforest in eastern Panama, required travelling on horseback through muddy trails, hiking on steep slopes, and camping above 1000 meters.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The rainfrog has distinctive, unusually prominent black eyes, a contrasting light upper lip, a large head, and a single conical tubercle on the upper eyelid. Its current habitats are severely fragmented and threatened by rapid deforestation aiming to replace the pristine region with plantations and cattle pastures. Moreover, rising temperatures caused by climate change are additional stressors for this frog’s small mountain habitat.



“Investigations on the ecology of the new species and its population status, especially at the type locality, are highly recommended. As a flagship species, this new frog can help to preserve the Chucantí cloud forest including several recently described species known only from this isolated area in eastern Panama,” wrote the study authors.



A scientific description of Pristimantis gretathunbergae and its habitat can be found in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/63009/element/8/28012/">ZooKeys</a>.&nbsp;



Image Credit: Konrad Mebert



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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

New rainfrog named after climate activist Greta Thunberg

On Monday, January 10, 2022, a new species of rainfrog...

A special issue of the journal Nature Reviews Earth &amp; Environment is shedding light on rapidly changing Arctic coasts. Scientists at the <a href="https://www.awi.de/en/">Alfred Wegener Institute</a> (AWI) describe the potential consequences of shifting Arctic shorelines for humans, animals, and the environment.



“The pace of changes in the Arctic is increasing, leading to accelerated coastal retreat,” said Dr. Anna Irrgang of the AWI Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. “This affects both the natural and human environment, for example, by releasing carbon from the soil into the sea and atmosphere, or losing the land that supports communities and infrastructure.”



Arctic coastal regions are not uniform. For example, shorelines in Alaska, Canada and Siberia are made of heavy permafrost bluffs that are resistant to wave action under cold temperatures, but vulnerable as they warm up. Other shorelines, such as those found in Svalbard, are rocky and less fragile. With temperatures rising, however, scientists expect that all of these coastal systems will change to some degree.



“Predictions about this are often subject to large uncertainties because reliable oceanographic and environmental data for remote coastal zones are limited,” said Dr. Irrgang.



“Our current understanding of Arctic coastal dynamics is fragmented, with too few data with high spatial and temporal resolution on environmental factors and shoreline changes."&nbsp;



“While such datasets already exist for some regions such as northern Alaska, most of the Arctic coast is poorly mapped.”&nbsp;



The report highlights the urgent need for more observations and research on fragile Arctic coastal systems. This sort of work could greatly improve the accuracy of predictions and help scientists and policy makers prepare for the future.&nbsp;



The state of Arctic coasts have far-reaching impacts on water availability, erosion, plant and animal life as well as human well-being.&nbsp;



“For this, we need to develop adaptation methods that enable good and sustainable living conditions in Arctic coastal settlements. Close cooperation with local people is central to this,” said Dr. Irrgang.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rising temperatures are transforming Arctic coasts

A special issue of the journal Nature Reviews Earth &amp;...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3877">Ecosphere</a> has found that the recovery of the fisher, an endangered forest carnivore native to Canada and northern United States, will likely be hindered by the increasing frequency and severity of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-and-extreme-heat-waves-increase-air-pollution/" data-type="news" data-id="1900604">wildfires</a>. Scientists led by <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> (OSU) discovered that fisher abundance declined significantly after three mixed-severity wildfires from the summers of 2014 and 2016.



A fierce and secretive animal, the fisher is a member of the Mustelidae family, which also includes badgers, wolverines, minks, and otters. They are roughly the size of a large house cat. With hind feet that rotate almost 180 degrees, fishers can not only scale trees, but can also climb down head first. These abilities help them attack prey from above or carry offspring in their mouths as they climb up and down trees.



Fisher populations have persistently declined during the 19th and 20th centuries due to fur trapping and logging. With the recent wildfires affecting the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion, a 50,000-square-kilometer area straddling the Oregon-California border and hosting the largest fisher populations, their numbers have dwindled even more.



“The fisher has a limited distribution, and rapid changes to forest structure could threaten its long-term persistence,” said study lead author David Green, a conservation ecologist at OSU. “We estimated a 27 percent reduction in the total number of fishers within our study area following the fires.”&nbsp;



Strangely, Dr. Green and his colleagues have found that, while fisher density decreased regardless of wildfire intensity, gray fox populations showed a significant decline after medium-severity wildfires, but actually increased after high-severity fires.



“Our results suggest that increased severity, extent and frequency of wildfires in the western United States will have negative impacts on fisher populations and change community composition for medium-size predators. We found that the wildfires that occurred in the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion affected fisher density negatively regardless of burn severity, while gray fox density decreased in areas that burned at medium severity and increased in areas that burned at high severity.”



Further research is needed to understand why the different wildfire severity levels had different impacts on the two species of animals studied.



“Understanding the effects of wildfire on the species that live in forests, and the interactions among species, is important for making the most effective conservation and management decisions. The short- and long-term consequences are unclear for wildlife amid the calls for restoring forests to their natural regimes of frequent, low-severity fires,” Dr. Green concluded.



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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

Fisher populations will struggle to survive increasing wildfires

A new study published in the journal Ecosphere has found...

The sexual anatomy of marine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-mammals-are-vanishing-in-the-uk/">mammals</a> is difficult to understand fully because we cannot be present when these animals mate underwater in the world’s oceans. And when scientists do get hold of dead specimens, their sexual organs are usually shriveled and not in a life-like state.&nbsp;



However, in a study published today in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, researchers from Mount Holyoke College, the University of Florida and Texas A&amp;M University report on their detailed examination of the structure and neurology of the clitoris in female bottlenose dolphins. They explain that female dolphins have a very obvious clitoris that sits at the entrance to the vagina but that there has been little study of this organ or of female sexual pleasure in nature, in general.&nbsp;



The researchers became curious about the function of the clitoris while studying the evolution of vaginas in dolphins. The position of the clitoris in a dolphin’s vagina would make stimulation during copulation likely, and thus the researchers questioned whether the structure of the organ in dolphins would reveal evidence that it functions to produce sensations of pleasure.



“Every time we dissected a vagina, we would see this very large clitoris, and we were curious whether anyone had examined it in detail to see if it worked like a human clitoris,” said study&nbsp;first author Professor Patricia Brennan. “We knew that dolphins have sex not just to reproduce, but also to solidify social bonds, so it seemed likely that the clitoris could be functional.”



Dolphins are among the few mammalian species that are involved in sexual behavior at times when they cannot conceive. This has led to the hypothesis that dolphins may be sexually active not only in the name of reproduction, but also because this brings them pleasure.&nbsp;



Brennan and colleagues examined the clitoris from each of 11 female dolphins that had died naturally. They analyzed the shape and configuration of erectile bodies within the organ, as well as the nature and pathways of nerves that ran through the tissues. Their results supported the hypothesis that female dolphins have a functional clitoris that helps to make the sexual experience pleasurable.&nbsp;



“Just like the human clitoris, the dolphin clitoris has large areas of erectile tissue that fill up with blood,” said Professor Brennan.



The erectile tissue changes shape as dolphins mature, which suggests that it acquires a function that is associated with being an adult. Their studies also show that the clitoris body has large nerves and many free nerve endings right underneath the skin, which is much thinner there than in the adjacent skin. They also found genital corpuscles much like those previously described in the human clitoris and penis tip, which are known to be involved in the pleasure response.



Overall, Professor Brennan says that the erectile bodies in dolphins are “surprisingly similar” to the shape of the erectile bodies in humans.



“Since the entire pelvis of dolphins is so different to humans, it was surprising to see how similar the shapes were. Also, the size of the nerves in the clitoris body was very surprising. Some were larger than half a millimeter in diameter.”



This research helps to remedy the situation that the general anatomy of the clitoris in female mammals has often been inadequately or inaccurately described in the past, and the deep structures of the organ have historically been overlooked. In fact, even the human clitoris wasn’t fully described until the 1990s.&nbsp;



“This neglect in the study of female sexuality has left us with an incomplete picture of the true nature of sexual behaviors,” said Professor Brennan. “Studying and understanding sexual behaviors in nature is a fundamental part of understanding the animal experience and may even have important medical applications in the future.”



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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&nbsp;

Female dolphins have a clitoris that provides sexual pleasure

The sexual anatomy of marine mammals is difficult to understand...

Ecological interactions are often not simple or straightforward in nature. Instead, they commonly represent trade-offs between different processes so that the best compromise is reached in the end.&nbsp;This is exactly what scientists from the <a href="https://www.ice.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology</a> found when they investigated the choices made by female tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) when laying their eggs. 



The hawkmoths did not always make the obvious choice when placing their eggs on the leaves of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-plants-cause-a-global-loss-of-floristic-uniqueness/">plants</a> that would provide food for the larvae, once they hatched. Previous research had shown that tobacco hawkmoths avoid laying their eggs on plants where they smell the feces of other hawkmoths. “This is apparently their way of avoiding food competition. Therefore, we wondered whether the moths also avoid plants infested by other herbivorous insects,” explained study first author Jin Zhang.



In the lab, the researchers gave female hawkmoths a choice between laying their eggs on sacred Datura plants (Datura wrightii) that were infested with three-lined potato beetles (Lema daturaphila) or Datura plants that had no potato beetles. Both adult and larval potato beetles feed on the leaves of this plant, and the researchers hypothesized that the hawkmoths would avoid plants where potato beetles were present in order to ensure the maximum supply of food for their offspring.&nbsp;



But the hawkmoth females surprised the researchers by laying their eggs, preferentially, on the leaves of Datura plants that already hosted numerous potato beetles.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“To be honest, we were a little frustrated at first because we had expected the experiments to confirm our initial hypothesis, namely that egg-laying tobacco hawkmoths avoid food competitors,” explained study leader Markus Knaden.



“In our case, however, the unexpected observation suddenly made sense when we realized that beetle-infested plants smell quite differently and that parasitoid wasps, which often use plant odors to find their host insects, are less efficient at detecting tobacco hornworms on beetle-infested plants."



Tobacco hornworms, the larvae or caterpillars of tobacco hawkmoths, are heavily parasitized by the wasp&nbsp;Cotesia congregate, which lays its eggs in the caterpillars. Up to 90 percent of these caterpillars are parasitized by wasps and die shortly after the wasp larva hatches. Female hawkmoths therefore need to consider not only the available food supply for their larvae, but also their potential exposure to this parasitic wasp species.



The experts analyzed the odor given off by Datura&nbsp;plants when they carry an infestation of three-lined potato beetles compared to the odor emitted when there is no infestation. They found that infested plants produce more alpha-copaene in the in their odor when the beetles and their larvae are present. Interestingly, these three-lined potato beetles coat themselves with their own feces, possibly as a means of deterring would-be predators and parasites.&nbsp;



The research team then tried to establish how exactly the tobacco hawkmoth females detect the presence of the molecular substance alpha-copaene. Of the 70 potential chemical receptors present in the hawkmoths, the researchers identified a single one, Or35, as the odorant receptor activated by alpha-copaene. They suggest that this receptor is probably involved in the moth’s choice of where to deposit its eggs.



Next, the experts tested the choices made by the wasps (Cotesia congregate) that parasitize tobacco hawkmoth caterpillars. They found that the wasps preferred the odor of plants on which tobacco hornworms were feeding, but they also avoided the odor of plants that were infested with potato beetles. These results were confirmed by assays in an experimental tent containing&nbsp;Datura&nbsp;plants infested by tobacco hawkmoths only, or by tobacco hawkmoths and potato beetles together. Wasps also avoided plants with beetles in this setting.



The findings indicate that female tobacco hawkmoths, when choosing where to lay their eggs, weigh up the benefit for their larvae of having no food competition against the disadvantage of being parasitized by the wasps. Although tobacco hornworms develop more slowly on plants that are additionally infested by beetles, the mother moths accept this disadvantage when laying their eggs. The advantage of protecting their offspring from parasitic wasps must therefore outweigh the disadvantage of food competition. Such cost-benefit trade-offs play a significant role in many ecological interactions.&nbsp;



“Our results show that in nature, simple explanations are often not sufficient. Tobacco hawkmoths do not only have to take into account whether a plant is a good food substrate for their offspring, but also whether potential competitors are already present, and whether the presence of these competitors could even help to hide [their offspring] from predators,” concluded study co-author Bill Hansson.



The researchers will focus future studies on the reasons why&nbsp;Datura&nbsp;plants emit different odors depending on the insects that feed on them. They plan to use interdisciplinary approaches that also consider, for example, the role of microorganisms in these complex interactions, and hope to uncover further exciting aspects of the multifaceted interactions between living organisms.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</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

Complex factors determine where hawkmoths lay their eggs

Ecological interactions are often not simple or straightforward in nature....

New research led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has found that pheasants’ heads cool rapidly as they prepare to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hyenas-make-faces-when-they-want-to-play-fight/">fight</a> due to a stress response during which blood runs to the body’s core. Their heads then heat up again afterward, as normal blood flow is restored.



The researchers used thermal cameras to watch juvenile pheasants (six or seven weeks old), and see how their temperature changed during aggressive interactions that often occur in order to establish the “pecking order” - a term coined by the Norwegian zoologist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe over a century ago to describe the dominance hierarchy characterizing many animal species.&nbsp;



"Thermal cameras provide a unique opportunity to non-invasively measure dynamic changes in physiological state over a short period of time," explained study co-author Dr. Mark Whiteside, a behavioral ecologist and applied ethologist at the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a>. "Using this technique we were able to measure responses to aggressive interactions, in semi-natural environments, in real time."



The researchers found that both the instigator and the recipient of the aggression grew more cool-headed before a fight due to a stress response common in multiple animal species, which is crucial in relocating the blood flow in parts of the body core where it is more useful during a fight.



"We were surprised that both individuals in these aggressive encounters followed a similar pattern of cooling and heating," said&nbsp;study lead author Dr. Tim Fawcett, an expert in Animal Behavior, Evolution, and Behavioral Ecology at the University of Exeter.



"We expected that a fight would be more stressful for the pheasant on the receiving end of the aggression, and therefore that we'd see a stronger response in them. We can't say for certain what causes this pattern, but it could be that maintaining a place at the top of the pecking order is just as stressful as being at the bottom."



While both male and female pheasants followed a similar pattern of cooling and heating before and after a fight, the scientists found that females were cooler on average. Further research is needed to fully understand these gender differences.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B</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

Pheasants’ heads literally cool off as they prepare to fight

New research led by the University of Exeter has found...

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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

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" 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 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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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