Our world is warming, and ecosystems are shifting in response. Some changes are obvious - like flowers blooming earlier - but many are subtle and complex. One of the most important factors in this transformation is phenology, the timing of natural events, such as seed germination and plant growth.



A new study from Holden Forests &amp; Gardens sheds light on how warming influences plant communities by altering germination timing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-role-of-germination-timing-in-plants">Role of germination timing in plants</h2>



Germination timing plays a crucial role in shaping entire ecosystems, not just individual plant species. When a seed starts growing, its timing determines how well it competes for resources like sunlight, water, and nutrients. 



Some plants adjust quickly to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-how-climate-change-will-alter-plant-growth-cycles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warmer temperatures</a>, germinating earlier in the season, while others stick to their usual schedule. This shift in timing can disrupt the ecological balance, allowing certain species to dominate and altering the overall plant community.



If a species germinates earlier, it may grow larger and take up more space, outcompeting others that germinate later. Over time, this change can influence which species thrive and which decline - ultimately affecting animals, insects, and other organisms that depend on those plants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-germination-in-different-plant-species">Germination in different plant species</h2>



To better understand how climate change affects plant communities, a research team led by Emma Dawson-Glass from the <a href="https://holdenfg.org/katie-stuble-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stuble Lab</a> conducted a controlled study. They focused on 15 plant species commonly found in old-field ecosystems. 



The researchers designed an experiment that simulated two temperature conditions: one reflecting current climate conditions and another 3°C warmer to mimic future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-extremes-in-2024-what-have-we-learned/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warming</a> scenarios.



This setup allowed them to observe how temperature changes influenced the timing of seed germination.



The main objective of the study was to determine&nbsp;which plant species germinate earlier under warming&nbsp;and how that shift affects plant interactions. 



When certain species sprout earlier, they may gain a competitive advantage, growing larger and outcompeting other plants for sunlight, nutrients, and water. This process can&nbsp;alter plant community compositionand disrupt ecological balance.



The findings provide strong evidence that&nbsp;climate change is already influencing ecosystems. Studying these patterns is crucial for predicting future shifts and developing strategies to manage and restore plant communities as the climate continues to warm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winners-and-losers-in-a-warmer-world">Winners and losers in a warmer world</h2>



The study found that plants with greater phenological flexibility had a competitive edge. 



Plant species like&nbsp;curly dock (Rumex crispus), wrinkleleaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa),&nbsp;and&nbsp;tall ironweed (Vernonia gigantea)&nbsp;grew significantly larger when they germinated earlier in a warmed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-defy-climate-change-through-acclimation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environment</a>. 



Meanwhile, species such as&nbsp;spotted St. John’s wort (Hypericum punctatum), bristly buttercup (Ranunculus pensylvanicus),&nbsp;and&nbsp;Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)&nbsp;performed better in current conditions, struggling when warming altered the timing of their establishment.



However, not all plants showed a clear response - some maintained stable growth regardless of warming. This variability suggests that climate change will not affect all species equally, creating an unpredictable future for plant communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-ecosystem-management">Implications for ecosystem management</h2>



"This work illustrates that warming can change the order of species arrivals, ultimately reshaping community composition,” said Dawson-Glass. These findings are crucial for conservationists and ecologists working to restore and manage plant communities in a rapidly changing world.



The study also highlights&nbsp;phenological sensitivity, the ability of species to adjust their timing in response to seasonal changes. 



“Our results provide a new perspective on how climate change is already shaping ecosystems in ways we’re only beginning to understand,” said Katharine Stuble.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-plant-germination">Future of plant germination </h2>



As climate change accelerates, shifts in germination timing are altering ecosystems by affecting&nbsp;food webs, species competition, and biodiversity. Some plants germinate earlier due to warming, gaining a competitive edge over others. 



This can lead to&nbsp;changes in plant community structure, where dominant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-soil-day-2024-protecting-our-planets-lifeline/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">species</a> thrive while others struggle. Over time, these shifts impact herbivores that rely on specific plants for food, which in turn affects predators and the broader ecosystem.



The research at&nbsp;<a href="https://holdenfg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Holden Forests &amp; Gardens</a>&nbsp;contributes to a growing understanding of how these changes unfold. 



By studying phenology - the timing of natural events - scientists can predict and manage the effects of climate change on plant communities. This knowledge is crucial for conservation efforts, helping land managers restore and maintain biodiversity.



As ecosystems continue to shift, understanding phenology will be essential in developing strategies to&nbsp;adapt to a warming world and protect ecological balance.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4504" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecology</a>.



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Climate warming alters plant germination and disrupts ecosystem balance

Our world is warming, and ecosystems are shifting in response. Some changes are obvious - like flowers blooming earlier - but many are subtle and complex. One of the most important factors in this transformation is phenology, the timing of natural events, such as seed germination and plant growth. A new study from Holden Forests &amp; Gardens sheds light on how warming influences plant communities by altering germination timing. Role of germination timing in plants Germination timing plays a crucial role in shaping entire ecosystems, not just individual plant...

A recent study published in <a href="https://beta.nsf.gov/now-leaving-5baef9b4ae2e21776e14fb9f77?external_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-023-01603-w&amp;back_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeta.nsf.gov%2Fnews%2Fsea-level-rise-poses-particular-risk-asian%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgovdelivery">Nature Climate Change</a> has identified the areas most at risk from sea level rise caused by natural ocean fluctuations and climate change. 



The research, which was supported by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">US National Science Foundation</a> and co-authored by a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), mapped sea-level hotspots across the globe.



The study revealed that certain Asian megacities are particularly vulnerable, including Chennai, Kolkata, Yangon, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila. The authors warn that these cities may face significant risks by 2100 if society continues to emit high levels of greenhouse gases.



“Internal climate variability can greatly reinforce or suppress the sea-level rise caused by climate change,” explained NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, who co-authored the paper. “In a worst-case scenario, the combined effect of climate change and internal climate variability could result in local sea levels rising by more than 50% of what is due to climate change alone, thus posing significant risks of more severe flooding to coastal megacities and threatening millions of people.”



The study used a computer model of global climate and a specialized statistical model to determine the extent to which natural fluctuations can amplify or reduce the impact of climate change on sea-level rise in certain regions.&nbsp;



The researchers found that internal climate variability could increase sea-level rise in some locations by 20%-30% more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme flooding events.



For example, the study predicts that coastal flooding events in Manila will occur 18 times more often by 2100 than in 2006 based solely on climate change. In a worst-case scenario, they could occur 96 times more often based on a combination of climate change and internal climate variability.



Internal climate variability will also increase sea-level rise along the west coasts of the US and Australia.



While the study acknowledges the uncertainties associated with predicting sea-level rise due to the complex and unpredictable interactions in the Earth's climate system, the authors stress the importance of developing effective adaptation strategies.



“The paper emphasizes that the estimates of sea-level rise come with considerable uncertainties because of the complex and unpredictable interactions in Earth's climate system,” the researchers wrote. “But the authors said it's critical for society to be aware of the potential of extreme sea-level rise to develop effective adaptation strategies.”



The current predictions for sea-level rise worldwide vary depending on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global sea levels have already risen by about 15 cm since the start of the 20th century.



The IPCC's fifth assessment report, published in 2014, projected a global sea-level rise of between 26 and 82 cm by 2100, depending on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions. However, more recent research suggests that the upper end of this range may be an underestimate, and that sea-level rise of over one meter by 2100 is possible if emissions continue to rise at their current rate.



It's worth noting that sea-level rise is not uniform around the world, and some regions are more vulnerable than others. The study discussed in this article, for example, identified certain Asian megacities, western tropical Pacific islands, and the western Indian Ocean as particularly at risk from sea-level rise. Other vulnerable regions include low-lying coastal areas, such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and small island states in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.



It's also important to note that sea-level rise is a slow process and may not be immediately noticeable in many places. However, it can have significant impacts on coastal communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure over time, particularly when combined with extreme weather events such as storms and hurricanes. Developing effective adaptation strategies will be critical for minimizing the impacts of sea-level rise in the coming years.



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Asian megacities at highest risk from sea level rise

A recent study published in Nature Climate Change has identified...

New research led by <a href="http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html">Okayama University</a> has analyzed fragments from the asteroid Ryugu to investigate the abundance of amino acids within them. The study aims to investigate whether amino acids necessary for the formation of life on Earth came from extraterrestrial sources such as meteorites.



The solar system was formed from a molecular cloud composed of gas and dust. When the cloud collapsed, the early sun was formed, and a large disk of gas and dust was formed orbiting it. The dusty material collided to produce rocky material that eventually gave rise to planetesimals. Some of the planetesimals contained large amounts of ice, including volatile compounds such as water and organic compounds, likely including some amino acids.



Over time, the ice melted due to the presence of radioactive material that heated up the bodies. This period of liquid water enabled many reactions to occur, including Strecker synthesis and Formose-like reactions, which resulted in the production of new organic material, including amino acids. The same process also changed the rocky materials from their original minerals to new secondary minerals.



After several million years, the planetesimals began to freeze, and later catastrophic collisions and interactions with the solar system planets broke up the large bodies, sending their asteroidal and cometary fragments close to Earth. Impact events have since delivered fragments of these asteroids and comets to the Earth's surface, supplying the Earth with organic material, including amino acids, over the course of its history.



Amino acids are necessary for living organisms, as they are the building blocks of proteins, which are essential for many processes within organisms. Interestingly, most amino acids come in at least two forms that are mirror images of each other, similar to human hands, and life on Earth uses one particular type of amino acid in its proteins, the left-handed optical isomer.



Currently, only a certain class of meteorites (carbonaceous chondrites) is known to contain excesses of left-handed optical isomers, which has led to the idea that the amino acids used by life may have originated from these meteorites. Despite this, the amino acids in meteorites could have formed before their incorporation into the meteorites or after the meteorites had already formed.



The scientists analyzed several fragments of the asteroid Ryugu and calculated the abundance of amino acids within them. The abundance of mineral phases within the particles had been previously reported in another publication, which allowed for a comparison between the abundance of amino acids and minerals.



It was found that one particle (A0022) contained a high abundance of an uncommon amino acid in extraterrestrial materials, called dimethylglycine (DMG), whereas the other particle (C0008) did not contain this amino acid above the detection limit. Meanwhile, the abundance of glycine was found to be lower in A0022 compared to C0008, while the abundance of β-alanine showed the opposite trend. Accordingly, the ratio of β-alanine to glycine was higher for A0022 than for C0008.



The ratio was shown previously to be indicative of the extent of aqueous alteration operating on planetesimals. Therefore, it was hypothesized that some reaction related to higher levels of aqueous alteration in A0022 may explain the high abundance of DMG in this particle, compared to C0008.



The mineral phases were examined to see if any additional evidence for what reaction may be causing the different amino acids abundances between the Ryugu particles. It was found that the abundance of secondary minerals (formed after aqueous alteration), including carbonate, magnetite, and Fe-sulfides, was higher in A0022 than in C0008.



The higher abundance of carbonate in A0022 compared to C0008 suggested that there was a greater quantity of CO or CO2 in the region of the planetesimal where A0022 had been altered. This, coupled with the stronger evidence of aqueous alteration from the β-Alanine to glycine ratio, indicated that there may have been more ice in the precursor of A0022 than in C0008.



One method for producing DMG, an essential nutrient for humans, is the Eschweiler-Clarke reaction, which involves the reaction of glycine with formic acid and formaldehyde in water and generates CO2. Comets contain glycine, formaldehyde, and formic acid, and it is anticipated that these chemicals would be present in the planetesimal precursors of asteroids.



Thus, if the Eschweiler-Clarke reaction occurred during aqueous alteration in the precursor of A0022, it could explain why this particle had a higher level of DMG and lower abundance of glycine compared to C0008. Moreover, the CO2 produced may have contributed to the formation of carbonates in A0022.



Overall, the results of this study suggest that even minor variations in the conditions during aqueous alteration on planetesimals can have significant impacts on the ultimate abundance of amino acids. The destruction or creation of some amino acids can have consequences for the availability of amino acids at the genesis of life on Earth.



Astronomers have found the building blocks of life, such as amino acids, in various places in the universe. Some of these places include meteorites, comets, and interstellar dust particles.&nbsp;



These building blocks have also been detected in the atmospheres and on the surfaces of planets and moons within our own solar system, such as Mars, Saturn's moon Enceladus, and Jupiter's moon Europa.&nbsp;



Additionally, complex organic molecules have been detected in the gas and dust clouds between stars, known as interstellar clouds, and in the protoplanetary disks around young stars.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37107-6">Nature Communications</a>.



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How did the building blocks of life form?

New research led by Okayama University has analyzed fragments from...

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants, also known as PM2.5, may increase the risk of developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mediterranean-diet-reduces-the-risk-of-dementia/">dementia</a>, according to a new meta-analysis conducted by researchers at <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a>. 



Dementia is a syndrome that affects cognitive function, including memory, thinking, language, and the ability to carry out daily activities. It is caused by damage to the brain cells and can be progressive, meaning it gets worse over time.



Dementia can have a significant impact on a person's life, including their ability to communicate, their mood and behavior, and their independence. People with dementia may experience memory loss, difficulty with language, confusion, personality changes, and impaired reasoning and judgment.&nbsp;



Individuals who suffer from dementia may also have difficulty with everyday tasks, such as dressing, grooming, and eating. As the condition progresses, individuals may require increasing levels of care and support from their loved ones or healthcare professionals.



The study is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to use the new Risk of Bias In Non-Randomized Studies of Exposure (ROBINS-E) tool, which addresses bias in environmental studies in greater detail than other assessment approaches. It is also the first to include newer studies that used "active case ascertainment," a method that involved screening entire study populations followed by in-person evaluation for dementia among individuals who did not have dementia at baseline.



The researchers identified 51 studies that evaluated the association between ambient air pollution and clinical dementia, all published within the last ten years. The studies were assessed for bias using ROBINS-E, and 16 of them met the criteria for the meta-analysis.&nbsp;



The majority of the research was focused on PM2.5, with nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxide being the next most common pollutants studied. Of the studies used in the meta-analysis, nine used active case ascertainment.



The researchers found consistent evidence of an association between PM2.5 and dementia, even when annual exposure was less than the current EPA annual standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3). Among the studies using active case ascertainment, the researchers found a 17-percent increase in risk for developing dementia for every two μg/m3 increase in average annual exposure to PM2.5.&nbsp;



They also found evidence suggesting associations between dementia and nitrogen oxide (five percent increase in risk for every 10 μg/m3 of annual exposure) and nitrogen dioxide (two percent increase in risk for every 10 μg/m3 of annual exposure), though the data was more limited.



"This is a big step in providing actionable data for regulatory agencies and clinicians in terms of making sense of the state of the literature on this hugely important health topic," said study lead author Professor Marc Weisskopf. "The results can be used by organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency, which is currently considering strengthening limits on PM2.5 exposure. Our findings support the public health importance of such a measure."



More than 57 million people worldwide are currently living with dementia, and estimates suggest that number will increase to 153 million by 2050. Up to 40 percent of these cases are thought to be linked to potentially modifiable risk factors, such as exposure to air pollutants.&nbsp;



Air pollution's estimated association with the risk of dementia is smaller than that of other risk factors, such as education and smoking. However, because of the number of people exposed to air pollution, the population-level health implications could be substantial.



"Given the massive numbers of dementia cases, identifying actionable modifiable risk factors to reduce the burden of disease would have tremendous personal and societal impact," said Professor Weisskopf. "Exposure to PM2.5 and other air pollutants is modifiable to some extent by personal behaviors—but more importantly through regulation."



Air pollution is caused by the release of harmful substances into the air by human activities such as transportation, industrial processes, and energy production. These substances can include particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, and volatile organic compounds.



The impact of air pollution on the planet can be significant. Particulate matter, for example, can cause respiratory problems and other health issues in humans and animals. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides can lead to acid rain, which can damage crops and forests, harm aquatic life, and erode buildings and monuments. Ozone, when it is present in the lower atmosphere, can be harmful to human health and vegetation.



Air pollution also contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide, which is released through the burning of fossil fuels, is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to rising global temperatures. This can lead to a range of impacts, including sea level rise, changes in weather patterns, and more frequent and severe natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and wildfires.



Overall, air pollution has significant negative impacts on both human health and the environment, and addressing this issue is crucial for creating a sustainable and healthy future for our planet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-071620">The BMJ</a>.



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Air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants, also known as PM2.5,...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a> has found that people who experience <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-who-exercise-are-less-likely-to-have-sleep-problems/">sleep problems</a> are at a higher risk of stroke.&nbsp;Such issues include getting too little or too much sleep, taking long naps, having poor quality sleep, or experiencing breathing problems such as snoring, snorting, or sleep apnea.



“Not only do our results suggest that individual sleep problems may increase a person’s risk of stroke but having more than five of these symptoms may lead to five times the risk of stroke compared to those who do not have any sleep problems,” said study author Christine McCarthy, a medical expert at the <a href="https://www.universityofgalway.ie/">University of Galway</a> in Ireland.



The researchers investigated the sleep habits of a cohort of 4,496 individuals with an average age of 62, including 2,243 people who had a stroke. The analysis revealed that those getting too much or too little sleep were more likely to have a stroke than those who slept an average number of hours.&nbsp;



For instance, a total of 162 individuals who had a stroke slept less than five hours per night (compared to 43 of those who did not have a stroke), while 151 of those who had a stroke slept over nine hours (compared to 84 of those who did not have a stroke). Participants who slept less than five hours per night on average were three times more likely to have a stroke and those who slept over nine hours were twice as likely to have a stroke than those who slept seven hours. Moreover, participants who took naps longer than one hour were 88 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who took shorter or no naps.



Besides sleep duration, other factors increasing the risk of stroke included breathing problems such as snoring, snorting, or apnea. For example, people who snored were 91 percent more likely to have a stroke and people who snorted or had sleep apnea were three times more likely to have a stroke than those who did not experience such issues.



“With these results, doctors could have earlier conversations with people who are having sleep problems. Interventions to improve sleep may also reduce the risk of stroke and should be the subject of future research,” McCarthy 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



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Sleep problems linked to higher risk of stroke

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

Many studies have provided evidence that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/severity-of-covid-symptoms-linked-to-air-pollution/">air pollution</a> is linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes, including lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and diabetes. Now, a team of experts led by the <a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en">Barcelona Institute for Global Health</a> (ISGlobal) has identified another significant problem caused by air pollution: people exposed to higher levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and blank carbon (BC) before the Covid-19 pandemic appeared to have lower antibody responses to Covid-19 vaccines, suggesting that air pollution has a negative effect on the immune system too.



The scientists analyzed data from 927 participants in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.germanstrias.org/en/technology-services/gcat/">GCAT Genomes for Life</a>&nbsp;cohort (aged 40-65), who answered questionnaires and provided blood samples both in the summer of 2020, after the first lockdowns, and in the spring of 2021, after the beginning of Covid-19 vaccination. The participants’ exposure to air pollution was estimated based on their address before the pandemic.



The investigations revealed that, in previously uninfected individuals, pre-pandemic exposure to PM2.5, NO2, and BC was linked to a five to ten percent reduction in vaccine-induced antibodies, both for early IgM responses and later ones measured by IgG, with lower antibody levels persisting for several months after vaccination. These results were similar for all the three vaccines that were used (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna).



“Air pollution can induce chronic inflammation, which has been associated with a negative effect on vaccine efficacy,” explained co-senior author Carlota Dobaño, an associate professor of Immunology at ISGlobal. “Our findings are consistent with evidence that persistent organic pollutants reduce vaccine responses in children.”



Further research is needed the clarify the role of long-term exposure to air pollution on hybrid immunity (infection plus vaccination) and assess whether the reduction in antibody responses led to an increased risk of breakthrough infections.



“However, our findings add to a&nbsp;growing body of evidence on the adverse effects of air pollution&nbsp;even at the relatively low levels observed in Western Europe. They also call for&nbsp;stricter air pollution limits, as recommended by the WHO,” concluded co-senior author Cathryn Tonne, an environmental epidemiologist at ISGlobal.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP11989">Environmental Health Perspectives</a>.



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Air pollution associated with lower Covid-19 vaccine responses

Many studies have provided evidence that air pollution is linked...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amygdala-experience-fear/">amygdala</a> is a small, almond-shaped structure located deep within our brain’s temporal lobes, which plays a fundamental role in learning, remembering, triggering fight-or-flight responses, and promoting the release of a “feel-good” chemical called dopamine. Although scientists have studied this brain structure for decades, they have not yet reached a full understanding of how it functions.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.cshl.edu/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</a> (CSHL) has made a series of discoveries that clarify how so-called somatostatin-expressing (Sst+) central amygdala (CeA) neurons help us learn about threats and rewards, and how they are related to dopamine. These findings could be of crucial importance in the future development of treatments for mental health issues such as anxiety disorders or drug addiction.



While scientists have previously assumed that the amygdala cannot distinguish between good and bad stimuli, a series of experiments on mice taught to associate specific sounds with particular rewards and punishments have shown that not only did the neurons respond differently to rewards versus punishments, but also responded differently to various types of rewards.



“This is entirely new to us. These neurons really care about the nature of each individual stimulus. It’s almost like a sensory area,” said study lead author Bo Li, a professor of Neuroscience at CSHL.



Moreover, since the mice’s brains fired more&nbsp;Sst+ CeA neurons&nbsp;after training, these neurons seem to be essential for learning. To test this hypothesis, the researchers inhibited Sst+ CeA neurons in some of the mice, and discovered that these animals were unable to associate sounds with rewards or punishments. In addition, normal dopamine neuron responses were also suppressed in these mice.



“We found those neurons are required for normal function for dopamine neurons, and therefore are important for reward learning. That is direct evidence of how CeA neurons regulate the function of dopamine neurons,” Li explained.&nbsp;



In future research, the experts aim to examine more closely the relationship between Sst+ CeA neurons and addiction, which could potentially help devising better treatments. “Our study provides a basis for developing more specific ways to regulate these neurons in different disease conditions,” Li concluded.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05910-2">Nature</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



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How does the brain identify rewards and punishments?

The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure located deep within...

Alien life may indeed possess compasses, as recent scientific discoveries have led to the detection of coherent radio signals emanating from a distant exoplanet. Researchers believe that these signals could be evidence of a magnetic field on this far-off world.&nbsp;



Magnetic fields are crucial for habitability since they shield planets from harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles, which can be detrimental to any potential life forms.



Scientists from the US <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> (NSF) have picked up these intriguing radio signals from YZ Ceti b, a rocky planet situated 12 light years away from Earth. YZ Ceti b orbits a small red dwarf star known as YZ Ceti.&nbsp;



Researchers theorize that the signals likely result from an interaction between the planet's magnetic field and the star it orbits, a phenomenon comparable to Earth's aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.



Joe Pesce, NSF's program director for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, emphasizes the importance of these findings: "The search for potentially habitable or life-bearing worlds in other solar systems depends in part on being able to determine if rocky, Earth-like exoplanets actually have magnetic fields. This research shows not only that this particular rocky exoplanet likely has a magnetic field but provides a promising method to find more."



Magnetic fields, like Earth's, are generated by the movement of superheated, swirling liquid iron within a planet's outer core, which lies approximately 1,900 miles (3,000 km) beneath its surface. The heat escaping from the inner core creates convection currents, causing the iron to move and generate powerful electrical currents. The rotation of the planet on its axis then forms a magnetic field.



Magnetic fields not only enable compasses to function, but they also protect planets by deflecting charged particles known as "solar wind" and cosmic radiation from outer space. Without this vital protective layer, these particles could strip away the ozone layer, our primary defense against harmful UV radiation.



Sebastian Pineda, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado, underlines the importance of magnetic fields for a planet's habitability: "Whether a planet survives with an atmosphere or not can depend on whether the planet has a strong magnetic field or not."



When scientists detected a repeating radio signal coming from the exoplanet YZ Ceti b, it raised hopes that the celestial body could potentially sustain life. Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array telescope, the researchers found that the signal was strong enough to be detected from a considerable distance, indicating the presence of a powerful magnetic field on the planet.



Jesse Pineda, one of the researchers involved in the study, said, "This is telling us new information about the environment around stars."



To better understand the significance of this finding, it is important to consider the role of Earth's magnetic field. Our planet's magnetic field attracts charged particles from the sun, causing them to collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere, such as oxygen and nitrogen.&nbsp;



These collisions release energy in the form of green-blue light, known as the Northern Lights or aurora borealis. This phenomenon is the only visual representation of Earth's magnetic field, which is otherwise invisible.



The researchers' recent study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natastron/">Nature Astronomy</a>, refers to the detected signals as "auroral radio emissions." The scientists believe that these radio waves result from interactions similar to those of aurora borealis. When charged particles are released from YZ Ceti, some rebound off the magnetic field of YZ Ceti b and interact with the star's magnetic field. This interaction produces an aurora on the star itself, generating the radio waves detected on Earth.



"There should also be aurora on the planet if it has its own atmosphere," said Jackie Villadsen, an astronomer at Bucknell University. The close proximity of YZ Ceti b to its star - completing a full orbit in just two days - means that these interactions and resulting radio waves occur quite frequently.



"These planets are way too close to their stars to be somewhere you could live, but because they are so close the planet is kind of plowing through a bunch of stuff coming off the star," Villadsen said. "If the planet has a magnetic field and it plows through enough star stuff, it will cause the star to emit bright radio waves."



This discovery provides researchers with a valuable opportunity to determine whether magnetic fields on distant planets can indeed be detected from Earth. Since magnetic fields are invisible, they are notoriously difficult to identify, making it challenging to determine the habitability of the planets they surround.



YZ Ceti b, with its potential magnetic field, emerges as a strong candidate for a habitable exoplanet due to its rocky composition and Earth-like size. Although the research team has achieved a result that "no one has seen happen before," they are still awaiting a "really strong confirmation of radio waves caused by a planet."



Pineda remains optimistic about the future of this research. "There are a lot of new radio facilities coming online and planned for the future. Once we show that this is really happening, we'll be able to do it more systematically. We're at the beginning of it," said Pineda.



These recent findings have not only provided new insights into the habitability of distant worlds, but they have also offered researchers a promising new method for identifying other potentially habitable planets with magnetic fields. The search for alien life continues, and with these discoveries, scientists are one step closer to understanding the conditions necessary for life to thrive on other worlds.



At this time, there is no definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. However, the search for life beyond Earth is an active area of research, and scientists have made significant progress in recent years.



One of the most promising areas of research is the study of exoplanets, like YZ Ceti b, which are planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Scientists have discovered thousands of exoplanets, and some of them are located in the habitable zone, which is the region around a star where conditions may be suitable for liquid water to exist on the surface.



In addition to searching for exoplanets, scientists are also studying the potential for life in our own Solar System. For example, there is evidence that liquid water may exist beneath the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus.



While we have not yet found definitive proof of extraterrestrial life, the search is ongoing, and advancements in technology and new discoveries continue to bring us closer to the answer.



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Radio signal from nearby planet could mean alien life is present

Alien life may indeed possess compasses, as recent scientific discoveries...

New research from the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a> (UCLA) has uncovered an intriguing connection between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-mountain-lions-are-not-fully-protected-from-humans/">humans</a> and rats: both species appear to fall victim to the same type of logical fallacy, known as the conjunction fallacy. This groundbreaking study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/13423">Psychonomic Bulletin and Review</a>, suggests that the underlying cognitive mechanisms behind this fallacy may be shared across species, opening up the possibility of using rats as research models for studying certain psychopathological conditions.



The conjunction fallacy is a well-documented psychological phenomenon, famously exemplified by the "Linda problem" designed by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his colleague Amos Tversky in the 1980s. They presented participants with a scenario describing a woman named Linda, who is highly educated, socially conscious, and politically active. Participants were then asked to decide whether it was more probable that Linda was a bank teller, or a bank teller active in the feminist movement. Most chose the latter option, despite the fact that it is logically less probable.



This error in reasoning is thought to arise from the use of mental shortcuts, or heuristics, when estimating the likelihood of an event. In the case of the Linda problem, participants may have relied on the representativeness heuristic, assessing how similar the event is to a mental model they already have in their minds. This cognitive process, believed to be unique to humans, involves a combination of memory, imagination, and reasoning.



However, the recent study from UCLA challenges the idea that the conjunction fallacy is exclusive to humans. Valeria González, a postdoctoral psychology researcher at UCLA and the study's first author, explains: "The classical research has all been done with humans, so the usual explanation for the effect attributes it to a departure from rationality distinct to humans. Our work shows that maybe there is a more general mechanism shared between humans and rats."



The discovery that rats, like humans, are susceptible to the conjunction fallacy has significant implications for the field of psychology. If rats indeed share this cognitive bias with humans, they could potentially serve as useful models for studying psychopathological conditions characterized by false beliefs or the perception of nonexistent events, such as schizophrenia and certain anxiety disorders.



The conjunction fallacy occurs when people believe that the combination of two events is more likely than just one of those events occurring. Some researchers have argued that this fallacy arises due to language, particularly people's uncertainty about the meaning of words like "likely" and "probability." Others have attributed the fallacy to the influence of detailed backstories on decision-making. Additionally, previous research has indicated that humans are prone to conjunction fallacies when performing physical tasks.



To investigate whether the fallacy is necessarily tied to language and whether it is unique to humans, González and psychology professor Aaron Blaisdell designed an experiment involving rats in a physical, rather than social, task. The rats were trained in two scenarios where they had to judge the likelihood of a sound being present or both a light and sound being present in order to receive a food reward.



In the first scenario, the rats received sugar pellets if they pressed a lever when a tone played and a steady light was on. If the tone played but the light was off, they received no food. In the second scenario, the rats received pellets if they pressed a lever while a white noise played and a flashing light was off. However, they received nothing if they pressed the lever when the noise played and the flashing light was on.



The researchers then played the different sounds, a tone or white noise, with the light bulb unobscured but turned off. The rats reacted accordingly, tending to avoid pressing the lever in response to the tone and pressing it in response to the white noise. However, when the researchers obscured the light bulb with a piece of metal and played the sounds, the rats were forced to predict whether the light was on or off in hopes of receiving the food reward.



Interestingly, the rats were much more likely to predict that the obscured light was on, regardless of whether the light had previously signaled the presence or absence of food when accompanying the sound. This tendency to overestimate the likelihood that both sound and light were present, even if it meant no reward, demonstrates that rats, like humans, can exhibit the conjunction fallacy.



"Until now, researchers said this is unique to human cognition only because we haven't looked for it in animals," Blaisdell said. "If humans and other animals consider alternative states of the world during ambiguous situations to help decision-making, we might expect systematic biases such as the conjunction fallacy to show a broader distribution in the animal kingdom."



By demonstrating that the conjunction fallacy is not solely the province of humans, the UCLA researchers have opened up new avenues for investigation and potential treatments for these disorders. Furthermore, this study serves as a reminder that even in the realm of cognitive biases and heuristics, humans may not be as unique as previously thought.



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Rats have the same cognitive biases as humans

New research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)...

According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-is-heading-for-a-tipping-point-as-antarctic-ice-sheets-melt/">ice sheets</a> can retreat at an astonishing rate of up to 600 meters per day during periods of climate warming. The experts used high-resolution seafloor imagery to map more than 7,600 small-scale landforms called “corrugation ridges” to reveal the speed at which a former ice sheet that extended from Norway retreated about 20,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age.



These ridges, less than 2.5 meters high and spaced between about 25 and 300 meters apart, were formed when the ice sheet’s retreating margin moved up and down with the tides, pushing seafloor sediments into a ridge at every low tide. 



By calculating the rate at which the ridges were produced, the researchers found that the former ice sheet underwent pulses of rapid retreat at a speed of 50 to 600 meters per day - 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured. This is much faster than any ice sheet retreat rate observed from satellites or inferred from similar landforms in Antarctica.



These findings could inform computer simulations that predict future ice-sheet and sea-level change, by showing how rates of ice-sheet retreat averaged over several years or longer can conceal shorter episodes of more rapid retreat. “It is important that computer simulations are able to reproduce this ‘pulsed’ ice-sheet behavior,” said study co-author Professor Julian Dowdeswell, a glaciologist at the University of Cambridge.



The seafloor landforms also provide insight into the mechanism by which such rapid retreat can occur. The analysis revealed that the former ice sheet had retreated fastest across the flattest parts of its bed, where less melting was required to thin the overlying ice to the point where it starts to float. According to the scientists, pulses of similarly rapid retreat could soon be observed in parts of Antarctica, including at West Antarctica’s vast Thwaites Glacier, which has recently retreated close to a flat area of its bed.



“Our findings suggest that present-day rates of melting are sufficient to cause short pulses of rapid retreat across flat-bedded areas of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including at Thwaites,” said study lead author Christine Batchelor, a physical geographer at Newcastle. “Satellites may well detect this style of ice-sheet retreat in the near-future, especially if we continue our current trend of climate warming.”



“Our research provides a warning from the past about the speeds that ice sheets are physically capable of retreating at. Our results show that pulses of rapid retreat can be far quicker than anything we’ve seen so far,” she concluded.



About ice sheets



Ice sheets are enormous masses of ice that cover large areas of land. These ice sheets are found mostly in Antarctica and Greenland.



Ice sheets form when snow that falls on the land does not melt, but instead piles up over time. As more snow falls, the weight of the snow on top compresses the snow underneath. This compression causes the snow to turn into ice, and over time, the ice can become thousands of meters thick.



Ice sheets are important because they play a critical role in regulating the Earth's climate. They reflect sunlight back into space, which helps to cool the planet. They also store massive amounts of freshwater, which can affect ocean currents and sea level.



Unfortunately, ice sheets are also at risk due to climate change. As the Earth's temperature rises, the ice sheets are melting at an alarming rate. This melting can lead to rising sea levels, which can have devastating effects on coastal communities.



Scientists are studying ice sheets to better understand how they work and how they are changing. By studying ice sheets, we can better predict the impacts of climate change and take steps to mitigate its effects.



Ice sheets are fascinating and important features of our planet. While they are at risk due to climate change, we can work together to better understand them and protect them for future generations.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05876-1.">Nature</a>.



Image Credit: ©NASA/USGS, processed by Dr. Frazer Christie, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge



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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



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Ice sheets can retreat much faster than previously thought

According to a new study led by Newcastle University, ice...

The next full moon, also known as the Pink Moon, is set to shine brightly on Thursday morning, April 6, 2023, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude shortly after midnight at 12:35 a.m. EDT. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/longest-full-moon-of-the-year-will-peak-saturday/">moon</a> will appear full for three days, from Tuesday evening to Friday morning. During this time, the bright star Spica will be approximately eight degrees to the lower left of the moon. 



The Maine Farmers' Almanac first published "Indian" names for full moons in the 1930s, and these names have now become widely known and used. The Pink Moon in April is named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox. This plant, which is native to the eastern United States, is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring. Other names for this moon include the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes, the Fish Moon, as this is when shad swim upstream to spawn.



In addition to its various names, this full moon is also known as the Pesach or Passover Moon. Pesach or Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 5, and ends at nightfall on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The Seder feasts are on the first two evenings of Passover.



In the Christian ecclesiastical calendar, this is the Paschal Moon, from which the date of Easter is calculated. Paschal is the Latinized version of Pesach. Typically, the Christian holiday of Easter, also called Pascha, is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring.



However, there are differences between the times of these astronomical events and the calendars used by the Eastern and Western churches. This year, Western Christianity will celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 9, 2023, the Sunday after this first full moon of spring. Eastern Orthodox Easter will be a week later on Sunday, April 16.



This full moon also corresponds with the Hanuman Jayanti festival for many followers of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman is held in most areas on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra.



For Buddhists, especially in Sri Lanka, this full moon is Bak Poya, which commemorates when the Buddha visited Sri Lanka and settled a dispute between chiefs, avoiding a war.



The impact of the moon on human health has been a topic of fascination for centuries. Early folklore suggested that the moon could influence human health, with common beliefs linking the full moon to increased sleep problems and seizures. While there is little scientific evidence to support these beliefs, recent studies have suggested a connection between the moon and sleep.



In 2021, scientists at <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale</a> and the University of Washington conducted a study to investigate the impact of the moon on sleep. The study found that people generally fall asleep less on nights prior to a full moon, with lighting intensity differences preventing sleep initiation in the early hours of the night.&nbsp;



The study suggests that "moonlight available during the first hours of the night is more likely to drive changes in the onset of sleep. In contrast, moonlight late in the night, when most individuals are typically asleep, should have little influence on sleep onset or duration."



It is estimated that a full moon may bring 250 times more luminance than a moonless night, and 25 times more than when a half-moon is visible. However, the impact of this was largely explored in the context of communities that live without electricity, so it remains unclear if this holds true for the general population.



Dr. David Cunnington, a sleep specialist at <a href="http://www.msdc.com.au/MSDC/Home.html">Melbourne Sleep Disorders Centre</a>, suggests that the connection between the moon and sleep may be due to our evolutionary history. "We evolved to be in tune with our environment, and the moon is a big part of that environment. The theory is that if we were still living in caves, the moon would have been a very good way to keep track of time."



Despite the findings of the 2021 study, there are other studies that contradict the idea that the moon impacts human sleep. In 2015, a study of over 2,000 people found no link between sleep and lunar cycles. This suggests that while the moon may impact sleep in some individuals, it is not a universal phenomenon.



While the connection between the moon and sleep remains somewhat mysterious, it is clear that further research is needed to fully understand this complex relationship. In the meantime, it may be worth paying attention to the moon's phases and seeing if they have any impact on your own sleep patterns.



For generations, there has been a belief that full moons are linked to anxiety and even violent behavior, with Aristotle proposing that water in the brain makes humans susceptible to lunar phases. However, new scientific evidence suggests that this is not the case, and that the influence of the moon on human behavior may be limited in more urban environments.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/">University of Copenhagen</a> believe that the effect of moonlight on human behavior is probably minor in modern urban societies where most people are surrounded by an abundance of artificial light and spend evenings and nights mostly indoors. The experts say the effect may be greater in rural areas without artificial lighting, but the effect size is unknown.



The prevailing scientific evidence also contradicts the notion that full moons are linked to violent behavior. One study even found a drop in homicide rates during a full moon. Furthermore, an analysis of 17,966 medical records showed no link between psychiatric patient admissions or hospital stay times and lunar cycles.



So, what causes the Pink Moon? "Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates," explains <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>. "The Sun always illuminates half of the Moon while the other half remains dark, but how much we are able to see of that illuminated half changes as the Moon travels through its orbit."



During a full moon, the sun illuminates the entire day side of the moon, making it appear full and bright in the night sky. "The moon is opposite the sun, as viewed from Earth, revealing the moon's dayside," says NASA. "A full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise."



While the Pink Moon won't actually turn pink, it may appear to have an orange or yellow hue as part of a rare blood moon event. Very rarely, the moon can even appear blue if it's being viewed through a haze of dust such as volcanic ash, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.



As we enjoy the sight of the Pink Moon, it's important to remember that any influence it may have on human behavior is likely to be limited in urban environments, and that the prevailing scientific evidence suggests that the moon has no link to violent behavior or psychiatric admissions.



The Pink Moon is a fascinating celestial event that is rich in tradition and significance across many cultures and religions. Regardless of your beliefs, it is a beautiful sight to behold. Enjoy!



—



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The Pink Moon will shine brightly in the skies tonight

The next full moon, also known as the Pink Moon,...

As climate change continues to intensify, urban planners are constantly seeking innovative ways to prevent flooding caused by heavy downpours. Techniques such as planting rain gardens and installing green roofs have been implemented in various cities.&nbsp;



However, a recent study conducted by <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a> geography students in collaboration with the Hamilton County Conservation District suggests that a simple hole in the ground, known as a detention basin, can be just as effective.



Man Qi, a doctoral student at the UC College of Arts and Sciences, led the study. She explained that cities are constantly developing new ways to trap rainwater and direct it where it is most needed, especially during droughts. These methods, called low-impact development practices, include innovations like permeable pavement, which allows rainwater to seep into the ground instead of being diverted elsewhere.&nbsp;



Another such innovation is the bioretention cell, which consists of ornamental or landscaping plants atop soil designed to drain quickly, spread over a thick bed of gravel for optimal absorption. These cells can soak up large volumes of rain without creating standing pools of water.



Urban planners must consider how to prevent rainwater from spilling onto neighboring properties or roads when designing commercial or housing developments. Hard surfaces like buildings and parking lots cannot absorb heavy rains, necessitating the collection or diversion of water to avoid property damage.&nbsp;



"A detention pond is a common practice. It temporarily stores the water and releases it into the air or the groundwater or nearby streams at a low rate to reduce the risk of flooding. It also provides some ecological benefits," said Qi.



Working with the Hamilton County conservation district, the researchers assessed the effectiveness of flood-prevention techniques such as detention basins and bioretention cells under five different scenarios. The results were presented at the annual American Association of Geographers' conference in Denver.&nbsp;



Qi explained that in residential areas where the impervious area is less than 40 percent, low-impact development practices are better. "But if 70 percent or more of the ground surface is impervious, it's best to put in detention basins. The flood risk can be greatly reduced."



Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of rainstorms, making deliberate drainage planning even more crucial for cities. Professor Lin Liu, a study co-author and co-director of UC's Joint Center of GIS and Spatial Analysis, elaborated on this issue: "Global warming and urban sprawl have contributed to extreme weather. Coupled with the urban heat island effect, many metropolitan cities have experienced more extreme precipitation events. As a result, urban flooding has become an increasing threat to the loss of human life and property damage in many cities around the globe."



'Intense, heavy rains could inundate networks designed to prevent flooding, and the capacity of drainage networks could fail because they simply can't hold that much stormwater," said Qi, who experienced the reality of urban flooding firsthand in 2021 when her sister's home was flooded in China's Zhengzhou City. The disaster affected more than 10 million people, killing nearly 400 and causing $10 billion in property damage.



Urban flooding disproportionately impacts lower-income residents who lack the resources to recover quickly from disasters. Flood insurers create maps based on once-in-a-century disasters, but due to climate change, these events are becoming more frequent.&nbsp;



Qi emphasized the widespread consequences of flooding, noting that it "affects roads and infrastructure and interrupts society. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. The impacts are widespread."



As climate change exacerbates the risk of urban flooding, it is essential for planners to consider innovative and effective strategies like detention basins to protect lives, property, and the environment.



Climate change and sea level rise will have significant impacts on cities, especially those located in coastal areas. Some of the primary consequences include:



<ol>
<li>Flooding: As sea levels rise, low-lying coastal cities will experience more frequent and severe flooding. This will lead to disruptions in transportation, damage to infrastructure, and potential loss of life and property. Inland cities may also face increased flooding due to more intense precipitation events caused by climate change.</li>



<li>Infrastructure damage: Rising sea levels and storm surges can erode coastlines and damage critical infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, ports, and power plants. This damage can disrupt essential services, leading to economic losses and potentially impacting public health and safety.</li>



<li>Saltwater intrusion: As sea levels rise, saltwater can infiltrate freshwater sources, including rivers, aquifers, and wells, making them unsuitable for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use. This could exacerbate water scarcity issues in many cities, especially those already struggling with water management.</li>



<li>Loss of land: Coastal cities may experience a loss of land due to erosion, submersion, and permanent inundation as sea levels rise. This can lead to displacement of residents, loss of property, and shrinking tax bases, putting additional pressure on city budgets.</li>



<li>Human displacement and migration: As climate change and sea level rise make certain areas uninhabitable, people will be forced to relocate, leading to increased migration and potential conflicts over resources in receiving communities. This will put additional strain on social services, housing, and infrastructure in the cities where these migrants relocate.</li>



<li>Public health risks: Warmer temperatures associated with climate change can exacerbate air pollution and facilitate the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Additionally, extreme heat events can lead to heat stress, dehydration, and heat-related illnesses, especially among vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing health conditions.</li>



<li>Economic impacts: Climate change and sea level rise can negatively affect a city's economy through disruptions in trade, tourism, and industry. Damage to infrastructure and property, along with increased insurance costs, can also strain local economies.</li>



<li>Ecosystem disruption: Climate change and sea level rise can disrupt coastal ecosystems, leading to the loss of essential habitats and services, such as natural flood protection from wetlands and storm surge buffering from barrier islands.</li>
</ol>



To mitigate these impacts, cities need to develop and implement comprehensive adaptation and resilience strategies, including improving infrastructure, implementing nature-based solutions, promoting sustainable urban planning, and investing in early warning systems and disaster risk reduction measures.



—-



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Seeking ways to prevent flooding caused by climate change

As climate change continues to intensify, urban planners are constantly...

Antarctica, the Earth's southernmost continent, holds a staggering 60 percent of the world's fresh water in its ice sheets. This amounts to 30 million cubic kilometers of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-ice-sheet-is-approaching-a-critical-tipping-point/">ice</a>, a figure that is often difficult to comprehend. If all of the ice in Antarctica were to melt, global sea levels would rise by an average of 58 meters, wreaking havoc on coastal communities and dramatically altering our planet's landscape.



Irina Rogozhina, an associate professor at the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a> (NTNU), explained the potential consequences of ice sheet melting in East Antarctica: “The ice sheet in East Antarctica stores enormous amounts of water. This means that this is the biggest possible source of future sea level rise – up to 53 meters if all of the East Antarctic ice melts – and is seen as the largest source of uncertainties in the future sea level adaptation planning.”



Antarctica's ice loss occurs primarily through ocean-driven melting of ice shelves and ice calving. These processes accelerate the movement of ice streams on land, which discharge more ice into the ocean where it is eventually lost to melting and calving. Professor Rogozhina noted that this phenomenon was likely responsible for more significant ice loss during the Earth's warmer periods. In Greenland, for example, these two processes account for approximately 65 percent of all ice loss.



However, it is important to understand that the entire ice sheet does not need to melt for significant consequences to occur. Researchers from NTNU, including Rogozhina's group, recently examined the ice in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica. They discovered that the ice sheet in this region has experienced significant variation over time. This research is crucial in improving our understanding of the Earth's climate and how it is changing.



The team analyzed the East Antarctic ice sheet and a meltdown that occurred several thousand years ago. Their findings have been published in the Nature journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00673-6">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



The distribution of ice in Antarctica is not uniform. In the west, large portions of the ice sheet lie below sea level, reaching depths of up to 2,500 meters, making them highly vulnerable to ocean warming. In contrast, much of the ice sheet in the east is located on land above sea level, rendering it less susceptible to the ocean's influence.



The researchers found that the East Antarctic ice sheet was thinner in the past, particularly following the end of the last ice age, when massive ice sheets covered North America, northern Europe, and southern South America. As these ice sheets melted, sea levels rose by over 100 meters.



Rogozhina explained the team's findings: “From the evidence we presented in our study, we concluded that the East Antarctic ice sheet in Queen Maud Land also melted rapidly along its margins between 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, in a period we call the mid-Holocene. At this time, many parts of the world experienced warmer-than-present summers.”



The rapid response of the East Antarctic ice sheet to warmer conditions during the Holocene epoch is alarming, as Rogozhina said, "it is still difficult and worrisome to believe that the sluggish East Antarctic ice sheet can change so rapidly."



Determining the exact timing of the melting and finding a simple explanation for this behavior has proven challenging due to the inhospitable conditions in Antarctica. However, the researchers have begun to unravel this mystery, which will undoubtedly contribute to our understanding of the planet's climate and inform future adaptation strategies to cope with rising sea levels.



The research group, led by Professor Ola Fredin, focused on analyzing rock samples from various nunataks in Queen Maud Land for evidence of exposure to cosmic radiation. Nunataks are mountains that protrude through ice sheets.&nbsp;



The researchers then analyzed different isotopes or variants of elements such as chlorine, aluminum, beryllium, and neon in the rocks from the nunataks. Through the study of cosmogenic isotopes, they were able to determine how high the ice was over geological time in Queen Maud Land. Professor Fredin likens this process to "using a dipstick to measure the level of engine oil in your car."



By determining how long the rocks have been exposed to cosmic radiation, the researchers could also estimate the duration since the rocks were last covered by a protective layer of ice, which shielded them from cosmic radiation exposure. This was achieved by utilizing data from different areas and running various computer simulations.



The study also shed light on a possible explanation for the rapid thinning of the ice sheet sector in East Antarctica following the last ice age.&nbsp;



"We believe that the ice sheet became less stable due to higher, regional sea levels and warmer water rising from the ocean depths in the polar regions, penetrating under the ice margins and melting them from below," explained Professor Rogozhina.&nbsp;



This process led to the break-up of large icebergs and accelerated the movement of ice from land to ocean, consequently thinning the inland section of the ice sheet. Rogozhina likens this to "when a house on a hill slope loses its supporting foundation and starts sliding downhill."



The researchers also used cosmic radiation to determine how frequently ice has covered certain areas. Their findings indicated that it is most common for the ice in Queen Maud Land to be thick along the coast, but not further inland, where mountain peaks protrude through the ice and land elevations can reach several thousand meters.



According to Professor Fredin, the land masses along the coast of Queen Maud Land have been covered by ice between 75 and 97 percent of the time during the last one million years. By contrast, mountain summits further inland have been ice-covered as little as 20 percent of the time.&nbsp;



This suggests that the ice sheet thickness and movement speed vary significantly over longer periods, and the mountain range further inland serves as a critical division between the dynamic coast and the ice sheet closer to the South Pole, which experiences less variation in thickness.



—-



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What happened when Antarctic ice melted in the past?

Antarctica, the Earth's southernmost continent, holds a staggering 60 percent...

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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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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> (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

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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



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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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



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The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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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...