Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp;



A new study from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Alberta</a> highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. 



This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide.



Over the past 15 years, a team of researchers led by Peter Thompson set up camera traps at more than 1,600 sites in the Bow River Valley and surrounding areas. 



These traps were in place between 2007 and 2022, capturing over a million images of humans and tens of thousands of images of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grizzly bears</a> and wolves.



The scientists then used statistical models to assess the relationship between human activity and carnivore presence on the landscape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-recreation-and-large-carnivores-nbsp">Human recreation and large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



Upon examining the images and activity patterns, the researchers discovered a significant disturbance effect from busy trails, extending far beyond the immediate path.&nbsp;



The results showed that wolves and bears did not merely avoid the immediate vicinity of high-traffic areas; they stayed away from locations hundreds of meters away as well.



Thompson, formerly a postdoctoral fellow with Colleen Cassady St. Clair in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, is now a postdoctoral fellow at <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simon Fraser University</a>.



“We initially thought bears might use hiking trails as efficient routes when humans weren’t around, but they actually avoid these areas altogether,” said Thompson.



“Our results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, substantially influencing their behaviour even hundreds of meters away from the trail.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-widespread-displacement-of-large-carnivores-nbsp">Widespread displacement of large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



For grizzly bears, half of the displacement effect from high-use trails remained in effect up to 300 meters from the trail. For wolves, this displacement was observed up to 600 meters away. Thompson noted that the phenomenon is considerably more extensive than was previously believed.



“When trails become busier, people may not realize the extent to which they are disrupting wildlife movement and habitat security,” Thompson added.&nbsp;



This finding demonstrates that outdoor enthusiasts using high-traffic trails, especially in popular regions, could unknowingly be displacing wolves and bears from substantial parts of their natural habitat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-effects-of-recreation-on-wolves-nbsp">Effects of recreation on wolves&nbsp;</h2>



While grizzly bears are visibly impacted by busy trails, the displacement effect was even more pronounced for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gray-wolves-are-a-crucial-component-of-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wolves</a>. Their avoidance of human activity at distances of up to 600 meters likely relates to their year-round activity cycle, which intersects with winter recreation such as skiing and snowmobiling.&nbsp;



This further highlights how multiple forms of recreation can compound the stress on top predators.



“Wolves are even more affected by human recreation than grizzly bears, and they are active year-round, coinciding with winter recreational activities,” said St. Clair, Thompson’s former supervisor.&nbsp;



“This research highlights the critical need to manage human use in a way that allows people to share the landscape with these wary predators.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mitigating-the-impacts-on-large-carnivores-nbsp">Mitigating the impacts on large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



The Bow River Valley is particularly significant for wildlife, functioning as a key passageway for many species.&nbsp;



Shifts in animal movement due to human traffic on trails could compromise the valley’s role as a corridor for genetic exchange and resource access.&nbsp;



If large carnivores are consistently deterred from these areas, the consequences could include altered feeding patterns, reduced breeding success, and changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/danger-zones-climate-change-is-altering-predator-prey-dynamics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predator-prey dynamics</a>.



Land managers in this region may consider strategies such as creating buffer zones, limiting trail access during peak activity times, or issuing guidelines that reduce disturbance in critical wildlife areas.&nbsp;



Such steps might help maintain the valley’s ecological function and ensure that grizzlies, wolves, and other species can continue to move freely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-need-for-thoughtful-recreation-planning">Need for thoughtful recreation planning</h2>



The paper’s authors emphasize that as recreational use of mountain trails grows, the effects on wildlife will likewise increase.&nbsp;



Raising awareness about how trail use displaces animals, even far from the trail itself, could encourage more responsible behavior among outdoor enthusiasts.&nbsp;



Measures such as seasonal trail closures, visitor education programs, and designated wildlife corridors could help minimize the disruption to grizzly bears, wolves, and other sensitive species.



The findings in the Bow River Valley also reflect broader challenges faced worldwide as conservation areas strive to balance human recreation with wildlife protection.&nbsp;



By taking preemptive steps - whether through trail design, user quotas, or educational outreach - policymakers and conservation managers can better safeguard critical habitats for large carnivores and foster a more harmonious coexistence between people and nature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reevaluating-our-use-of-mountain-trails-nbsp">Reevaluating our use of mountain trails&nbsp;</h2>



This study provides actionable insights into how recreational activities influence the distribution and well-being of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/apex-predators-can-help-restore-ecosystems-but-not-immediately/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">apex predators</a>.&nbsp;



With wolves and bears essential to ecosystem balance, preventing their displacement has ecological significance beyond individual species.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Thompson, these results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, and these findings are a call to reevaluate how we manage and use mountain trails.&nbsp;



Through careful planning and targeted conservation efforts, there is hope that humans and large carnivores can continue to share these magnificent landscapes for generations to come.



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14837" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



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Mountain recreation displaces large carnivores from their habitats

Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp; A new study from the University of Alberta highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide. Over the past 15 years, a team of...

While the idea of using insects as a protein-rich food alternative is growing into a multi-million dollar industry, experts at the <a href="https://www.slu.se/en/">Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</a> are warning that there is “an overwhelming lack of knowledge” regarding the sustainability and safety of the production process.

The study authors are exploring many unknown aspects of insect rearing and the potential environmental impacts, yet they believe that suppliers can overcome these challenges. 

“As the global demand for protein grows, insect mass-rearing can play an important role in the future of food,” said study first author Åsa Berggren. “We know that we can't keep doing what we're doing in terms of producing food and utilizing the land.”

The concept of insects as food has great potential to become a renewable and environmentally friendly source of protein, but the researchers emphasize that there are many basic questions that must be answered to guarantee the sustainability of the industry before it grows further.

“Otherwise, we risk replacing one environmental issue with another,” said Berggren. “Though the industry is in its infancy, some companies are getting bigger, and doing well, and the risks will come along with that.”

One of the most urgent questions revolves around unwanted systems products. For example, the full impact of mass-rearing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/insects-eco-friendly-protein/">insects</a> in countries where these species do not occur naturally is not yet known. These insects could escape and cause major damage to the ecosystem, which Berggren described as a potential “climate catastrophe.”


According to the experts, the industry is still young enough that there should be plenty of time to conduct proper research and tackle these issues. 

“Insects have the potential to be a good, sustainable, useful food source, but it's not as simple as rearing them and then that's it,” said Berggren. “There is a lot of effort that needs to be put in to research.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Will insects become a safe and sustainable global food source?

While the idea of using insects as a protein-rich food...

A study of the ear structures found in a variety of ancient skulls has led to a surprising discovery: a prehistoric dog species that hunted by pouncing on its prey like modern foxes.

The team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a> performed CT scans on the skulls of 36 different types of carnivorans – an order of mammals that includes modern dogs, wolves, foxes, big cats and bears, among others. Some of the skulls were from six extinct species, including Hesperocyon gregarius, the first species of dog, and Epicyon haydeni, a dog the size of a grizzly bear.

The scans of the prehistoric dog skulls revealed that their inner ear changed its structure as their hunting style changed. The other carnivoran skulls showed the same pattern.

“For me, the inner ear is the most interesting organ in the body, as it offers amazing insights into ancient animals and how they lived,” lead author Dr. Julia Schwab told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html">The Daily Mail</a>.

The researchers found that the inner ear structure could help determine whether a species is more “dog-like” or “cat-like.” They also revealed clues to how the carnivorans hunt – or hunted, while they were alive.

Hunters that rely on speed, like cheetahs, develop larger ear canals. That helps to stabilize their head and their vision while they’re chasing down their prey, the researchers discovered.

A specific angled structure helps them separate the cats from the dogs.

And in the two prehistoric dog species, the structure of the inner ear was similar to that of a modern fox, include adaptations that would help all three species pounce accurately on their targets.

“The first dog and the largest-ever dog are such fascinating specimens to study, as nothing like them exists in the world today,” said Schwab, who is now at the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a>.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37106-4">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Ear offers clue to hunting style of prehistoric dog

A study of the ear structures found in a variety...

Based on weather radar data as well as observations from citizen scientists, researchers have gained a new understanding of spring bird migration along the Gulf of Mexico. The experts also have new insights into how these migrations may be impacted by climate change.

Study lead author Kyle Horton is an Edward W. Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> Lab of Ornithology. This lab has a  worldwide online database for bird observation reports called eBird.

“We looked at data from thousands of eBird observers and 11 weather radar stations along the Gulf Coast from 1995 to 2015,” said Horton. “We calculated that an average of 2.1 billion birds crosses the entire length the Gulf Coast each spring as they head north to their breeding grounds. Until now, we could only guess at the overall numbers from surveys done along small portions of the shoreline.”

Weather radar detects <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-aggression-birds/">birds</a> in a standardized way over time and over a large geographical area. Sightings from bird watchers helped the researchers translate radar data into estimates of bird numbers. 

The radar data showed the timing and location of the bird migration routes. Over two decades, the timing of peak spring migration remained consistent along the 1,680-mile coastline. The busiest time frame was found to be the 18-day period from April 19 to May 7, when approximately one billion birds pass over the Gulf Coast.

“The highest activity, with 26,000 birds per kilometer of airspace each night, was found along the west Texas Gulf Coast,” said Horton. “That region had 5.4 times the number of migrants detected compared with the central and eastern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida.”

The study revealed that Corpus Christi and Brownsville had the highest level of migration traffic. By determining when and where most birds will migrate, officials can be informed to turn off lights and wind turbines, which are known threats to migratory birds.


The current rate of change in migratory timing may be too much for the birds to keep up with. The researchers found that the earliest seasonal movements are starting sooner, but the timing of peak activity has not changed. These findings provide important baseline information that will help scientists predict the long-term implications of climate change for migratory birds.

“If birds aren't changing their migration timing fast enough to match the timing for plants and insects, that's alarming,” said Horton. “They may miss out on abundant resources on their breeding grounds and have less reproductive success.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a> .

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Kyle Horton

More than 2 billion birds migrate each year across the Gulf Coast

Based on weather radar data as well as observations from...

According to researchers at the <a href="https://www.med.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine</a> and the <a href="https://www.vet.upenn.edu/">School of Veterinary Medicine</a>, human demand for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/opioid-crisis-kids-adolescents/">opioid</a> prescriptions has been mirrored by an inflated demand for pet opioids as pet owners become more aware of pet pain and animals are subjected to more complex surgical procedures. However, due to the fact that veterinary opioid prescriptions are less regulated than human prescriptions, misuse of veterinary opioids may be contributing to the opioid epidemic.

In their study, published January 11th in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</a>, the team looked into all opioid pills and patches prescribed to small pets — dogs (73%), cats (22.5%), and others including rabbits, snakes, and birds (4.5%) —  at UPenn’s School of Veterinary Medicine between January 2007 through December 2017. They saw that the quantities of prescriptions, measured in morphine milligram equivalents (MME), rose 41% by the end of the decade. However, annual patient visits only rose 13% throughout the study period.

"As we are seeing the opioid epidemic press on, we are identifying other avenues of possible human consumption and misuse," study senior author Jeanmarie Perrone, MD, a professor of <a href="http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/emergency-medicine/">Emergency Medicine</a> and the director of <a href="https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/emergency-medicine/toxicology">Medical Toxicology at Penn Medicine</a>, said. "Even where the increase in prescribed veterinary opioids is well intended by the veterinarian, it can mean an increased chance of leftover pills being misused later by household members, sold or diverted, or endangering young children through unintentional exposure.”

“The results of this study suggest that by assessing the rate of veterinary opioid prescriptions, we can develop strategies to reduce both human and animal health risks associated with increasing use." 

The opioids analyzed by the team were the four most common prescribed to pets — tramadol, hydrocodone, and codeine tablets, and fentanyl patches.

"We found that the increased quantity of opioids prescribed by our hospital was not due to increased patient volume alone. It is likely that our goal of ensuring our patients are pain-free post-operatively, particularly for those requiring complex and invasive procedures, has driven our increased prescribing practices during this period," lead author Dana Clarke, VMD, an assistant professor of <a href="https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/interventional-radiology">Interventional Radiology</a> at Penn Medicine, added. "At the national level, we don't know the potential or extent of prescription diversion from animals to humans, and what impact this could have on the human opioid crisis."

This study will hopefully encourage states to enact more restrictions on veterinary opioid prescribing. Maine and Colorado already require pet owner background checks, and Alaska, Connecticut, and Virginia put limits on the amount of opioids a single veterinarian can prescribe to one pet owner.

The more information known about veterinary opioids and their connection to the human opioid crisis, the better government can crack down on the current crisis.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Misused pet prescriptions may contribute to the opioid epidemic

According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School...

Colony,Of,Subterranean,Termites,Build,Nest,Beneath,The,Tree,Bark.

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/termite-mounds-brazil/">termite</a> is a small but mighty insect that plays a crucial role in decomposing organic matter because they can break down cellulose in plants. Their role as nutrient cyclers helps keep ecosystems healthy, increasing nutrient levels in the soil and driving plant growth. 

Termites also help increase moisture leaves in the soil and as such can help maintain important tropical ecosystem processes during times of drought, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a> and the <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a>. 

The research, published in the journal Science, represents the first large-scale study of its kind to examine the role of termites in decreasing the impacts of drought in a tropical ecosystem. 

“Whilst there has been some work exploring how severe drought affects plants in tropical rainforests, our study shows for the first time that having termites helps protect forest from the effects of drought,” said Kate Parr, a member of the research team. “Termites might only be small but collectively their presence can help reduce the effects of climate change in tropical systems.” 

The researchers compared termite abundance and soil moisture between different sites in a tropical rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. 

Some of the sites had no termites because of novel suppression methods, and the researchers found that in the areas with termites there were more termites during the drought period, more leaf litter, and higher levels of soil moisture. 

There were also higher rates of seedling survival near the sites with termites during the drought. 

“The results of our study are important because we show that intact biological communities can act as a kind of ecological insurance by keeping ecosystems functioning in times of environmental stress,” said Hannah Griffiths, a lead author of the study. 

The study shows how crucial termites are to an ecosystem and not just in tropical regions. 

“Termites confer important ecosystem services, not only in pristine tropical rainforest, but in disturbed or even agricultural ecosystems, if termite abundance is reduced with disturbance, these habitats could be particularly sensitive to drought,” said Louise Ashton, the joint lead author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: University of Liverpool / Natural History Museum

Termites help maintain tropical ecosystems during periods of drought

The termite is a small but mighty insect that plays...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.rug.nl/?lang=en">University of Groningen</a> (UG) have discovered that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-breeding-seasons/">climate change</a> is intensifying feuds between great tits and pied flycatchers during the breeding season. The study revealed that, in some years, great tits killed as many as 10 percent of the male pied flycatchers.

Great tits may just seem like funny, fluffy birds, but biologist Jelmer Samplonius explained that they can become very aggressive during the breeding season. Samplonius observed great tits and pied flycatchers for his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Groningen.


As he checked the nest boxes used in his field studies, Samplonius regularly found a dead flycatcher in a box occupied by great tits. He said that when a flycatcher enters a box with a great tit inside, it does not stand a chance.

“The great tit is heavier, as the flycatchers are built for a long migration from Europe to Western Africa and back. Also, great tits have very strong claws,” said Samplonius. In this case, the dead flycatchers usually had fatal head wounds, “and it appears that the great tits then eat the brains.”

The birds have always competed for nesting locations. “Pied flycatchers try to steal nesting facilities from the tits. They may be no match when fighting inside the nesting boxes, but they are more agile flyers.”

Samplonius collaborated with his Ph.D. supervisor Christiaan Both to investigate whether climate change has any effect on the clashes between the two species. 

“Both species need to time the birth of their young with a peak in the availability of caterpillars,” said Samplonius. This peak coincides with the first appearance of leaves, and warming temperatures are causing the event to occur earlier in the year.

“Pied flycatchers now migrate to Europe earlier, but their adaptation is not as good as that of the great tits. Their earlier arrival is not linked to the actual temperature at their breeding grounds,” said Samplonius. The team discovered this after documenting the arrival of flycatchers over ten years in two national parks. 

The milder winters that result from climate change increase the survival rate of great tits, so there are more breeding birds, leading to more competition and conflict. 

A second reason for the increased competition is that great tits and pied flycatchers have adapted to climate change differently. The biggest clashes happen in colder springs, when tits start building their nests relatively late and the flycatchers arrive early.

“Interestingly, we didn't see an effect on the overall flycatcher population of about 300 breeding pairs in our study,” said Samplonius. “We noted that the males killed were usually those who arrived late in the season. These late birds quite often don't find a female to breed with, so that may explain why this behavior has no impact on the population.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change is causing more mating season aggression among birds

Researchers at the University of Groningen (UG) have discovered that...

A new study has revealed how locusts change their body color to adapt to different settings. The scientists identified a mechanism that uses a red pigment as a switch to shift between green and black coloring.

Many animals use <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/color-changing-animals/">body color</a> changes to survive in changing environments. The migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, displays a green color when it is living a more solitary life, while the insects living in larger swarms develop black and brown coloring. Prior to this research, however, the mechanism underlying this color transition remained a mystery. 

“The green color of solitary locusts is likely due to a combination of yellow and blue pigments, helping to camouflage the insects among plants as protection from predators," said study senior author Professor Le Kang of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>. “In our study, we wanted to see whether the brown/black colors of gregarious locusts are caused when pigments are added to their green background following a solitary phase.”

The investigation was focused on locusts who were raised in either solitary or crowded conditions. The genetic analysis showed that both types of locusts have different levels of a protein called βCBP, which plays a key role in their color transition. The researchers discovered that the black coloring of the more sociable locusts increased in direct proportion to their βCBP levels, while these protein levels did not change in the solitary locusts.

βCBP is known to bind to and increase the amount of a red pigment called beta carotene (β-carotene) in the skin, and the scientists examined this molecular activity in the locusts. They found that the amount of β-carotene in the social locusts was almost a third higher compared to the solitary insects, which means that the levels of βCBP and associated β-carotene are directly related to the degree of their dark coloration.

“This suggests the change in locusts from green to black, caused by the βCBP-β-carotene protein complex, is an adaptive response to population density,” explained Professor Kang. “It provides gregarious insects with an alarm coloration that inevitably exposes them to the environment, allowing them to recognize others within the same species, form large populations and warn against predators.”

“Overall, we have presented the first evidence that the black/brown color of these locusts is formed by the red pigment in the protein complex. It will now be interesting to see if a similar mechanism has evolved in other insects that switch colors depending on their surroundings.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Yang, Wang, Liu et al., eLife, 2019

Special mechanism allows locusts to change their body color

A new study has revealed how locusts change their body...

Lifestyle, longer life spans, and exposure to pollution and chemicals all increase the risk of certain cancers in humans, particularly in urban environments. 

While many studies have focused on the link between <a href="https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/10-010410/en/">urbanization and health</a> in people, there is now a growing field of research that shows similar health trends for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-life-plant-animal-evolution/">animal populations in urban environments</a>. However, cancer risk for animal populations that concentrate in urban environments has not been well understood. 

But now, an international team of researchers has recently analyzed cancer prevalence in animals that live in urban environments. Habitat loss due to urban sprawl is causing animals like birds, squirrels, and mice and hedgehogs to adapt to urban areas. 

In a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the researchers found that cancer prevalence is increasing among urban wildlife due to increased exposure to new threats like chemical, noise, and light pollution along with changes in diet and habitat. 

Feeding birds and squirrels human food like bread is common in many city parks, but the researchers argue that this is leading to an increase in obesity among animals and with it increases the risk of cancer. 

“It is clear that the characteristics of a modern lifestyle and the urbanizing environment have brought along a change in cancer prevalence in humans, but so far little attention has been given to similar changes in wild animals,” the researchers wrote in their <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.2434">study</a>.  “It has only recently been proposed that human activities might increase the cancer rate in wild populations.” 

The researchers suggest that studying urban wildlife could yield important insights into how urbanization impacts animal health, cancer prevalence, and mortality. 

“By identifying the knowledge gaps in this field, we suggest future research avenues, with the ultimate aim of understanding the magnitude of how humans' modern lifestyle affects cancer prevalence in urbanizing wild populations as well as the possibilities of using urban wild animal populations as models to study the association between environmental factors and cancer epidemics in humans,” the researchers wrote. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvanette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

City pollution and new foods raise cancer risk for urban animals

Lifestyle, longer life spans, and exposure to pollution and chemicals...

Monarch butterfly populations <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/western-monarch-butterflies-extinct/">have been declining</a> over the years, but the latest counts from the <a href="https://xerces.org/">Xerces Society</a>, a non-profit conservation organization, show that current monarch butterfly numbers have reached drastic lows. 

The Xerces Society is an invertebrate conservation group that conducts annual Thanksgiving and New Years monarch butterfly counts along overwintering sites in California where monarchs migrate to.

It’s a massive undertaking with volunteers, staff members, and regional coordinators all working together to tally up monarch butterfly numbers. 

The counts aim to see how the species is doing, and according to the latest numbers, monarch butterfly populations are “disturbingly low” along the US west coast.  

According to the latest Xerces counts, there has been an 86 percent decline in monarch butterflies since 2017 and the Thanksgiving Count has recorded less than 30,000 butterflies overall. 

In 1981, there were over a million monarch butterflies overwintering in California. 

While the Xerces Society said they expected numbers to be low, they were not prepared for such a severe drop in numbers. 

“Going into the overwintering season, we were not expecting this to be a great year because we knew it had been a rough season in the breeding and migratory range,” wrote <a href="https://xerces.org/2018/11/29/critically-low-monarch-population-in-california/">Emma Pelton</a>, a Xerces Society Conservation Biologist. “It’s worse than anyone had anticipated, however, with early count numbers showing that the population is down an order of magnitude from last year, which was a low population year itself.”

The Xerces Society is not sure what caused such significant declines this past year, but monarch butterflies are threatened by pollution, human activities, habitat loss, and pesticides. Climate change induced drought and weather extremes are also impacting the butterflies. 

Tackling pesticides and habitat loss should be a priority for conservationists, according to the Xerces Society. 

“While western monarchs are facing unprecedented challenges right now, there is still hope that we can recover the population if we work quickly, strategically, and together,” Emma Pelton wrote. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Monarch butterfly populations are at an all time low

Monarch butterfly populations have been declining over the years, but...

In 1955, a 200-million-year-old fossil was discovered at Fell Mill Farm in Warwickshire, England. It remained unstudied until 2014 when scientists used computerized tomography (CT) scanning technology to digitally reconstruct the ancient reptile skull and unearth the mysteries that have surrounded it for 60 years.

The fossilized skull, which is almost a meter in length (about three feet), is that of a ichthyosaur, a massive prehistoric marine reptile. Unlike other ichthyosaur fossils discovered in the United Kingdom, this sample is remarkably preserved in three-dimensions. Others of the same species have been “pancaked” over time, causing the skull structure and several key bones to be compromised.

"Initially, the aim of the project was to clean and conserve the skull and partially dismantle it to rebuild it more accurately, ready for redisplay at the <a href="http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank">Thinktank Museum</a>,” said paleontologist and co-author of the study, Nigel Larkin. “But we soon realised that the individual bones of the skull were exceptionally well preserved in three dimensions, better than in any other ichthyosaur skull we'd seen. Furthermore, that they would respond well to CT scanning, enabling us to capture their shape digitally and to see their internal details. This presented an opportunity that couldn't be missed.”

Lead author and one of the world’s leading ichthyosaur experts Dean Lomax, from The <a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/">University of Manchester</a>, knew they had something special on their hands when he saw how well-preserved the skull and skeleton portion was. He was able to confirm that the specimen was a rare species of ichthyosaur called the Protoichthyosaurus prostaxalis, which is the largest type of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ichthyosaurs-warm-blooded/">ichthyosaur</a> known.

Bones that are not usually present in other ichthyosaur skulls, yet appeared in this specimen, were micro-CT scanned by Dr. Laura Porro of <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London (UCL)</a> at <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">Cambridge University</a> in 2015. These bones, only preserved on the left side of the braincase, were then digitally mirrored via the CT scans and 3D printed to fit the other side.

[caption id="attachment_1864855" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ichthyosaur.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1864855" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ichthyosaur.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="362" /></a> Reconstruction of ichthyosaur skull, Image © Bob Nicholls (Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum)[/caption]

“CT scanning allows us to look inside fossils - in this case, we could see long canals within the skull bones that originally contained blood vessels and nerves,” Dr. Porro said. “Scans also revealed the curation history of the specimen since its discovery in the '50s. There were several areas reconstructed in plaster and clay, and one bone was so expertly modelled that only the scans revealed part of it was a fake. 

“Finally there is the potential to digitally reconstruct the skull in 3D,” she continued. “This is hard (and risky) to do with the original, fragile and very heavy fossil bones; plus, we can now make the 3D reconstruction freely available to other scientists and for education."

Lomax said that waiting until CT scanning technology is available to study the fossil has been worth the wait. Their findings and methods of CT scanning will greatly help future paleontologists discover and unearth amazing prehistoric mysteries.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image © Bob Nicholls (Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum)

Medical scans reveal secrets of a massive extinct marine reptile

In 1955, a 200-million-year-old fossil was discovered at Fell Mill...

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a massive global tsunami. Beneath Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula lies a 111 mile-wide crater called the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-asteroid-struck/">Chicxulub crater</a> that was formed after a giant asteroid collided with Earth 65 million years ago.

The aftermath causes  of the collision included a nearly mile-high global tsunami and brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs and nearly three-quarters of all life on Earth. 

New research recently presented at the<a href="https://sites.agu.org/"> American Geophysical Union</a>'s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. shows how much of an impact the tsunami had after the asteroid collided into the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a massive global tsunami

The research was conducted by a team from the<a href="https://umich.edu/"> University of Michigan. 

</a>“The Chicxulub asteroid resulted in a huge global tsunami, the likes of which have not been seen in modern history,” Molly Range, the lead researcher of the project, told <a href="https://www.livescience.com/64426-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-caused-giant-tsunami.html">Live Science</a>. 

According to Range, this is the first global simulation of the impact tsunami, and the researchers had to use two models to simulate the full global scale of the tsunami after the collision. 

One model showed wave height and sediment displacement immediately following the impact and the second model showed how the tsunami spread through and displaced the world’s ocean in the hours after the impact. 

“The impact tsunami spread quickly out of the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic and through the Central American seaway into the Pacific within the first 24 hours,” the researchers <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/445502">wrote</a>. 

Once the asteroid collided with Earth, the first model simulated what the next ten minutes were like near the collision site, and the model showed an initial wave reaching nearly a mile high flowing away from the crater. 

The team used data from the first model to simulate how the tsunami propagated through the world’s oceans in the second model.

“We found that this tsunami moved throughout the entire ocean, in every ocean basin,” Range told Live Science.

Waves in the North and South Pacific reached as high as 46 feet after the initial impact tsunami wave, the model showed waves reaching 13 feet in the North Atlantic. 

“This model suggests that the bolide impact not only had major effects on the global atmosphere and biosphere, it also created a tsunami of such magnitude that its effect is felt across much of the world ocean,” the researchers conclude. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a massive global tsunami

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a massive global tsunami....

Every year, insect and mosquito-transmitted diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika are responsible for millions of deaths worldwide. 

Nearly 40 percent of the Earth’s population is at risk of contracting malaria, according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/whr/1996/media_centre/executive_summary1/en/index9.html">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), and the Aedes aegypti mosquito, a transmitter of many common insect-transmitted diseases, is one of the deadliest animals in the world. 

Now, a new study could pave the way for the development of a type of mosquito birth control to reduce mortality rates and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dengue-fever-modified-mosquitoes/">prevent insect-transmitted diseases from spreading</a>.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> conducted a study examining mosquito egg formation and identified a gene specific to healthy mosquito larvae development. 

The study was published in the journal PLOS Biology.

“We specifically looked for genes that were unique to mosquitoes and then tested for their functional role in eggshell synthesis,” said Jun Isoe, the leader of the research. “We think there are other discoveries to be made using this same species-directed approach.” 

First, the researchers identified and tested 40 mosquito-specific genes to determine the function of each gene. 

Next, the researchers injected the genes with an RNA molecule that inhibited the protein that each specific gene codes in a process is called RNA interference. 

The team injected the RNA molecules into a female mosquito before she fed on a host. Female mosquitoes need a blood meal to produce eggs. Once a mosquito laid her eggs, the researchers monitored the offspring to see if the RNA molecule had affected the eggs.

Only one of the genes had an impact on embryo development after being injected with the RNA molecule, the EOF-1 gene or Eggshell Organizing Factor protein as the researchers called it. 

Disrupting the EOF-1 protein resulted in the death of an embryo because the female mosquito laid malformed eggshells that were not able to support larvae development. 

Not only is EOF-1 specific to mosquitos, but the researchers also found that the RNA molecule prevented healthy embryo development for the entirety of the mosquito’s lifespan.

“This lasting effect makes the EOF-1 protein a very attractive target for drugs,” said Miesfeld. 

The researchers think that disrupting the EOF-1 protein could be an innovative solution to control mosquito populations in regions where mosquito-transmitted diseases pose major health risks. 

“We think this strategy may have a much lower chance of harming other organisms than what is being used today,” said Miesfeld. “Since the days of DDT, we have known that mosquito population control works to reduce the incidence of human disease. This could be a next-generation tool that could be applied to bed nets and other areas frequented by mosquitoes.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: CDC/Frank Hadley Collins

Mosquito birth control could prevent the spread of deadly diseases

Every year, insect and mosquito-transmitted diseases like malaria, dengue fever,...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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?

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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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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...