Elasmosaurus,,Group,Of,Long-necked,Plesiosaurs,From,The,Late,Cretaceous,Period,

Scientists have pieced together evidence that ancient marine reptiles once swam in what is now central Colombia, and these creatures appear to have been more formidable predators than today’s mighty killer whales.&nbsp;



Their presence at an unexpectedly high level in the food chain has raised new questions about how ocean ecosystems evolve.&nbsp;



Paleontologists reconstructed the lives of giant reptiles and invertebrates that flourished in a lush environment roughly 130 million years ago, and uncovered a glimpse of life that sits outside what is considered standard for our modern seas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-marine-reptiles-ruled-over-killer-whales-nbsp">Marine reptiles ruled over killer whales&nbsp;</h2>



Experts discovered that some of these reptiles could exceed 33 feet (10 meters) in length, hinting at a way of life that appears to have been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ecosystem-behavior-earth-first-sea-creatures-stirring-water-drove-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">remarkably powerful</a>.&nbsp;



According to their research, these creatures ruled the seventh level in a reconstructed Cretaceous food web, while present-day killer whales and great white sharks rarely pass the sixth.&nbsp;



At the heart of these findings is work by McGill University’s <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/biology/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department of Biology</a>, led by doctoral student Dirley Cortés and co-author Hans Larsson, who is a professor in the same department.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-marine-reptiles-reached-the-pinnacle">Marine reptiles reached the pinnacle</h2>



Large predators typically dominate the top ranks in any oceanic food chain. Scientists often call these ranks "<a href="https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Introductory_Biology_(CK-12)/06%3A_Ecology/6.05%3A_Trophic_Levels" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic levels</a>." 



Modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-sunken-oceans-discovered-between-earth-core-and-mantle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marine</a> systems reach a natural limit around the sixth trophic (or feeding) level, where species like orcas hover at the pinnacle of the energy pyramid.&nbsp;



“Our study is the first to examine these possible ecological interactions,” said Cortés, who is lead author on the publication. 



By <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/202/1/zlad092/7275647?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studying</a> fossil evidence in the <a href="https://www2.sgc.gov.co/LibroGeologiaColombia/tgc/sgcpubesp36201913.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paja Formation</a>, the team determined that Mesozoic reptiles had apparently gone one level higher. 



These ancient animals likely feasted on anything in their path, which explains how their food web stacked up so high.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reconstructing-a-lost-food-web">Reconstructing a lost food web</h2>



This investigation on ancient marine reptiles used body size, possible feeding tools, and comparisons with existing marine species to build a detailed framework for who ate whom in that vanished Colombian sea, where the warm climates of the Early Cretaceous allowed a surge in ocean diversity.&nbsp;



The Paja Formation’s fossil record reveals predators with robust jaws and swift movement, alongside an assortment of invertebrates that thrived in trophic levels beneath them.&nbsp;



Researchers drew upon modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-disease-is-pushing-caribbean-reefs-toward-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Caribbean reef</a> networks to cross-check their results. 



By comparing these fossils to present-day communities, the study uncovered what one of the paper’s authors described as "intricate links among prehistoric animals" that pushed the boundaries of the marine hierarchy.



“Understanding this complexity helps us trace how ecosystems evolve over time,” said Cortés.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-competition-shaped-the-seas">How competition shaped the seas</h2>



Marine food webs do not form overnight. Competition for resources tends to bring about new evolutionary strategies and unique feeding habits. 



During parts of the Mesozoic, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0501562102" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pressure</a> from marine predators and their potential prey made survival an ongoing challenge. 



A known surge in shell-crushing snails and other predatory invertebrates during this era has been labeled by paleontologists as the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mesozoic Marine Revolution</a>.&nbsp;



Ancient marine reptiles from the Paja Formation existed in this tense <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/looking-to-earths-ancient-climate-to-predict-our-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environment</a> of changing prey, leading them to develop massive body sizes and formidable hunting styles.&nbsp;



“These findings illuminate how marine ecosystems developed through intense trophic competition and shaped the diversity we see today,” said <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/202/1/zlad092/7275647?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Larsson</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-matters-today">Why this matters today</h2>



The close study of creatures that roamed the ocean so long ago is not just about cataloging exciting fossils. Discoveries like this tell us that life’s history is packed with surprising adaptations.&nbsp;



Paleontologists see a chance to compare these ancient networks with modern ones, thus providing fresh insights into how ecosystems recover from challenges such as climate change or habitat loss.&nbsp;



Researchers also note that these fossil communities remind us of how species at the top of the food chain can alter their entire environment, often making space for additional biodiversity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-window-into-evolution">A window into evolution</h2>



One important lesson from this work is that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-climate-shift-sheds-light-on-future-global-warming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dramatic shifts</a> in ocean biodiversity occurred long before humans entered the picture. 



Marine reptiles vanished near the end of the Mesozoic, but the legacy of their top-heavy food webs is imprinted in the fossil record. 



Each puzzle piece from that record, from large jaws to specialized teeth, helps paint a more accurate picture of how Earth’s seas matured. 



The high trophic levels in the Paja Formation suggest that new habitats were emerging, allowing marine reptiles to reach body sizes and predatory niches that are rarely matched in modern times.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-marine-reptiles-and-ecosystems">Ancient marine reptiles and ecosystems</h2>



Researchers plan to keep building models for other fossil sites. This work may reveal whether seventh-level predators were uncommon or if there were other pockets in Earth’s history where they thrived. 



In many regions, marine formations remain poorly understood, so there is every chance that the Paja Formation was not the only site containing marine reptiles with astonishing hunting powers.&nbsp;



More studies may show that, over millions of years, seas can produce predators more fearsome than anything we know today.



The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/202/1/zlad092/7275647?redirectedFrom=fulltext&amp;login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society</a>.&nbsp;



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Prehistoric ocean monsters would have eaten killer whales as snacks

Scientists have pieced together evidence that ancient marine reptiles once swam in what is now central Colombia, and these creatures appear to have been more formidable predators than today’s mighty killer whales.&nbsp; Their presence at an unexpectedly high level in the food chain has raised new questions about how ocean ecosystems evolve.&nbsp; Paleontologists reconstructed the lives of giant reptiles and invertebrates that flourished in a lush environment roughly 130 million years ago, and uncovered a glimpse of life that sits outside what is considered standard for our...

For a long time, scientists have used to associate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-are-more-aware-of-actions-than-objects/">dogs</a>’ aggressiveness solely with breed. However, a paradigm shift has occurred over the past decade, due to research linking behavioral profiles to factors such as dogs’ sex, age, metabolism, and hormonal patterns.&nbsp;



Now, based on a survey of 665 dog owners detailing the physical and behavioral features of their pet dogs, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www5.usp.br/">University of São Paulo</a> (USP) in Brazil has investigated how morphological, environmental, and social factors modulate canine aggressiveness.



The scientists found that aggressiveness was influenced both by physical traits such as weight and skull morphology, and by social and environmental factors like the type of household the dogs lived in, the animals’ life histories, and the owner’s gender and age. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that behavior is not only learned or influenced by genetics but also the outcome of interactions with the environment.



“The results highlight something we’ve been studying for some time: behavior emerges from interaction between the animal and its context. The environment and the owner-pet relationship, as well as morphology, are all factors that influence how pets interact with us and how we interact with them,” said study senior author Briseida de Resende, a professor of Psychology at USP.



“The owner’s gender was found to be a good predictor of behavior toward strangers, in that absence of aggressiveness was 73 percent more frequent among women’s dogs,” reported lead author Flávio Ayrosa, a psychologist at the same university.&nbsp;



Moreover, the dogs’ sex and snout characteristics also appeared to influence their aggressiveness. “The likelihood of aggressive behavior toward the owner was 40 percent lower among female dogs than among males,” Ayrosa said.&nbsp;



“Snout length was even more significant: aggressiveness toward the owner was 79 percent more likely among brachycephalic [dogs with short snouts] than mesocephalic dogs [characterized by a longer snout].”&nbsp;



In addition, the researchers also discovered that the heavier the dog, the less likely it was to display aggressiveness toward its owner, with aggressive behavior decreasing by three percent per extra kilogram of body mass.



However, the scientists stressed that the owner-related findings are not necessarily cause-and-effect correlations.&nbsp;



“We found relationships, but it’s impossible to say which comes first. In the case of the factor ‘walking the dog,’ for example, it may be that people walked their dog less because the animal was aggressive, or the dog may have become aggressive because the owner didn’t take it out enough,” Ayrosa explained.&nbsp;



“Traits such as weight, height, cranial morphology, sex, and age influence the interaction between dogs and their environment. They may spend more time inside the home because of them, for example.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105766">Applied Animal Behavior Science</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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What factors predict aggressiveness in dogs?

For a long time, scientists have used to associate dogs’...

A new study by scientists at <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has reviewed the climate studies conducted or paid for by the oil and gas company currently known as ExxonMobil. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abk0063">Science</a>, dives deeply into the company data from the late 1970s onwards (before Exxon and Mobil joined forces), in order to assess the accuracy of the climate projections produced by or on behalf of Exxon over several decades.&nbsp;



The results of the investigation are summarized in one single chart that displays every global warming projection reported by Exxon and ExxonMobil scientists between 1977 and 2003. The authors of the study collected their data from previously unreported information and models buried in the company’s own documents. They conclude that the projections are startlingly accurate and reveal that the company knew just how much global warming would occur and the damage that was attributable to the burning of fossil fuels.&nbsp;



In fact, the scientists have&nbsp;put a number on what ‘Exxon knew,’ decades ago, about climate science: that the burning of fossil fuels would lead to 0.20 ± 0.04 degrees Celsius of global warming per decade.&nbsp;



Although it has been widely reported that Exxon has known about the threat of global warming since the 1970s, this study is the first quantitative review of the company’s early climate science.&nbsp;Previous research focused on Exxon's inconsistent internal and external rhetoric on climate change, and the fact that the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and then spent millions to promote misinformation.



“We find that most of their projections accurately forecast warming consistent with subsequent observations,” the report concludes. “Their projections were also consistent with, and at least as skillful as, those of independent academic and government models.”



The researchers used established statistical techniques that are also used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body that is responsible for assessing the science related to climate change. The researchers found that 63–83 percent of global warming projections reported by ExxonMobil scientists were consistent with subsequently observed temperatures changes. Moreover, projections modeled by ExxonMobil scientists had an average ‘skill score’ of 72 ± 6 percent, with the highest scoring 99 percent.&nbsp;



For comparison, NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen’s global warming predictions, presented to the U.S. Congress in 1988, had skill scores ranging from 38 percent to 66 percent.&nbsp;(When we account for differences between forecast and observed atmospheric CO2&nbsp;levels, the ‘skill score’ of projections modeled by ExxonMobil scientists was 75 ± 5 percent, with seven projections scoring 85 percent or above. Again, for comparison, Hansen’s 1988 projections had corresponding skill scores of 28 to 81 percent.)



The study finds that “Exxon and ExxonMobil Corp also correctly rejected the prospect of a coming ice age, accurately predicted when human-caused global warming would first be detected, and reasonably estimated the ‘carbon budget’ for holding warming below 2°C. On each of these points, however, the company’s public statements about climate science contradicted its own scientific data.”



It is clear from the study’s analysis that this company, the world’s largest oil and gas company, was in possession of accurate and reliable scientific information in the 1970s and 80s, and understood that&nbsp;mankind was indeed influencing the global climate through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels. However, this did not stop the company from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformation.



For example, in June 1988, when NASA scientist James Hansen told a congressional hearing that the planet was already warming, Exxon stated publicly that the science was still controversial. By 1989, the company had helped create the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=38">Global Climate Coalition</a>&nbsp;(disbanded in 2002) to question the scientific basis for concern about climate change. It also helped to prevent the U.S. from signing the international treaty on climate known as the Kyoto Protocol, in 1998, to control greenhouse gases.&nbsp;



The findings of the current study add weight to ongoing legal and political investigations into ExxonMobil and the extent to which the company’s personnel sowed doubt about the scientific basis for climate change predictions.



“These findings corroborate and add quantitative precision,” the authors write, “to assertions by scholars, journalists, lawyers, politicians, and others that ExxonMobil accurately foresaw the threat of human-caused global warming, both prior and parallel to orchestrating lobbying and propaganda campaigns to delay climate action, and refute claims by ExxonMobil Corp and its defenders that these assertions are incorrect.”



“This is the nail-in-the-coffin of ExxonMobil’s&nbsp;<a href="https://perma.cc/6GWL-V89E">claims</a>&nbsp;that it has been falsely accused of climate malfeasance,” commented study lead author Geoffrey Supran of Harvard University&nbsp;. “Our analysis shows that ExxonMobil’s own data contradicted its public statements, which included exaggerating uncertainties, criticizing climate models, mythologizing global cooling, and feigning ignorance about when – or if – human-caused global warming would be measurable, all while staying silent on the threat of stranded fossil fuel assets.”



An article published in the Guardian in 2019 finds that ExxonMobil is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions">one of 20 companies</a>&nbsp;responsible for one-third of energy-related global carbon emissions since 1965. In addition, half of the greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere were released after 1988. What a difference it would have made if the fossil-fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, had been upfront about this and had been part of the solution instead of the problem. We are likely to have been in much better environmental shape than we are now.&nbsp;



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



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Exxon’s climate predictions were remarkably accurate, but ignored

A new study by scientists at Harvard University and the...

According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>, when it comes to preserving coral reefs, what is going on above the water surface is as important as what is going on below it. By analyzing the productivity and biodiversity of the world’s symbiotic coral communities, the experts found that the maintenance of water optical quality in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-can-survive-if-given-the-chance-to-evolve/">coral reefs</a> is crucial to protect them and prevent reef degradation.



“Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth,” said study lead author Tomás López-Londoño, a postdoctoral fellow in Marine Sciences at Penn State. “To better understand that diversity, we looked at the role sunlight plays in the symbiotic relationship between coral and the algae that provide the oxygen for its survival. We found that underwater light intensity plays a critical role in the energy expended by the coral’s symbiotic algae to maintain its photosynthetic activity.”



Scientists have long known that sunlight is a major source of energy for basically all biochemical reactions that sustain life on our planet. Yet, sunlight’s impact on corals has often been overlooked. “What’s new here is we developed a model that provides a mechanistic explanation for the biodiversity patterns in coral,” López-Londoño explained.&nbsp;



“Central to that explanation is water clarity, meaning that preserving the underwater light climate should be a priority for coral reef conservation. It’s as vital as pollution mitigation, limiting ocean acidification, and reducing thermal stress.”



By studying coral grown in an aquarium at different depths and gradations of sunlight, the researchers developed a mathematical model describing the connection between the depth-dependent variation in photosynthetic energy to corals and gradients of species diversity. Then, they tested this model on existent data about reefs in contrasting water clarity, and discovered that much of the variation in species richness with depth is driven by changes in exposure to sunlight.



“The model is very elegant in that it takes into consideration only two things,” said study senior author Roberto Iglesias-Prieto, a professor of Biology at Penn State. “It looks at productivity, the potential that an alga has to extract energy from the sun, and the cost of living, the cost of the repair of the photosynthetic machinery. It’s a very simple notion and we found it explains the existing empirical data.”



The results suggest that highly productive underwater environments with plentiful access to sunlight may be a vital safeguard against the risk of species extinction. Moreover, the findings offer a new strategy for reef conservation: preserving the clarity of water. Local communities could be actively involved in this by reducing the sedimentation and pollution associated with human development.&nbsp;



“Unlike so much of the environmental threats that corals face, this is something that can and should be managed locally,” Iglesias-Prieto concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25094-5">Nature Scientific Reports</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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Access to sunlight is critical for the survival of coral reefs

According to a new study led by Pennsylvania State University,...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a> has developed a new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-can-help-predict-ecosystem-changes-when-animals-are-reintroduced/">DNA</a>-collection method that allows scientists to capture genetic information from wildlife without disturbing the animals or putting their own lives into jeopardy. The experts tested this protocol on elephant dung and managed to collect enough DNA to sequence the whole genomes not only of the elephants, but also of the microbes, plants, and other organisms associated to them.



“We combined existing methodologies in such a way that we are now able to use noninvasive samples to generate genome-scale data,” said&nbsp;study lead author Alida de Flamingh, a postdoctoral researcher in Genetics and Ecology at Illinois. “This allows us to assess wildlife populations without having to dart, capture, or immobilize animals.”



According to study co-author Alfred Roca, a professor of Animal Sciences at the same university, collecting DNA from animal dung is not something new. “Elephant fecal samples have been used for decades to study the genetics of elephants,” he said. “But this relies on very cumbersome methods, often involving chemicals that in some cases may be dangerous. The collections are bulky, they’re hard to ship and they have to be refrigerated, making the whole process very costly.”



Now, the researchers tested a less expensive alternative: using small data-collection cards that have previously been treated to prevent the samples from degrading, allowing to store them for months without refrigeration.



First, the scientists collected and analyzed samples from zoo elephants to determine how long after defecation the fecal samples would still yield viable genomic data. The analysis revealed that even after 72 hours, the samples could be reliably used for genomic sequencing. In a next step, the team tested this procedure on samples collected from wild African savanna elephants. The sequencing led to treasure trove of information.



“I was surprised. I thought we might get some elephant DNA from the cards, but I was thinking on the order of two percent. However, on average, more than 12 percent of the DNA was attributed to the elephant,” Roca reported.&nbsp;



Since this was achieved without using costly and time-consuming laboratory methods that target only elephant DNA, each sample yielded a vast amount of information not only about the elephants, but also the microbial composition of their guts, their habitat, and diet.



“It’s really beneficial to get an idea of everything that’s in there because now you can start asking questions, not only about elephant genomes but also about things like their health, their diet and whether there are pathogens or parasites present,” de Flamingh explained.



According to the researchers, when it comes to elephant genomes, the results are comparable with – or even better than - those obtained from blood samples. “You can explore the connectivity of different elephant populations, the level of genetic diversity, the level of inbreeding and relatedness among elephants. And I would say there are lots of reasons you don’t want to have to collect blood samples from wild elephants,” Roca said.



“It’s possible to do what you could do with blood, but it goes beyond that. You now can do analyses that you couldn’t do before with blood DNA, which only provides information about the elephant’s genome,” de Flamingh concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.1021004">Frontiers in Genetics</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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New DNA-collection method is harmless to wildlife

A team of researchers led by the University of Illinois...

As humans, we share many characteristics with other primates, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bonobos-early-human-evolution/">bonobos</a>, who – together with chimpanzees – are the ape species most closely related to us. While there are many similarities in the social behavior of bonobos and humans, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en">Leiden University</a> and the <a href="https://www.uva.nl/">University of Amsterdam</a> has recently found that there are also remarkable differences.&nbsp;



The experts discovered that, although both species are more interested in photos of conspecifics that show emotion than in neutral photos, human attention is more easily drawn to photos of family members or friends, whereas the attention of bonobos is drawn to the emotion of individuals they don’t know.



In a first experiment, the scientists trained bonobos from the <a href="https://apenheul.nl/">Apenheul</a> zoo to press a dot on a screen. After pressing it, two images appeared briefly that showed bonobos from the same group as well as unfamiliar conspecifics. While some images were neutral, others expressed emotions related to fear, play, or sex. Then, a dot appeared again behind one of the two images, and the bonobos had to touch it as quickly as possible in order to receive a food reward. 



The researchers kept track of how fast the bonobos pressed the dot that appeared after seeing the different pictures, with the presupposition that the apes would be faster at touching the dot behind the photo that immediately grabs their attention.



A second experiment presented people visiting the zoo with the same task, with photos of strangers or a person with whom they visited the zoo that day, and with varying facial expressions, such as neutral, happy, angry, or scared.&nbsp;



“In these studies, we saw that both humans and bonobos react more quickly to photos of conspecifics with an emotional charge than neutral photos,” said study lead author Evy Van Berlo, a postdoctoral researcher in Cognitive Behavioral Ecology at the University of Amsterdam. “That is what we expected: it makes sense given that we are both social animals. Yet there was also a remarkable difference. We humans are mainly focused on emotionally charged photos of people we know, while the attention of bonobos is focused on studying emotionally charged photos of unfamiliar others.”



According to the researchers, this evolutionary difference has probably emerged due to differences in the living environment of the two species. “Bonobos live in a relatively stable ecological environment in Congo, where there is enough food available. Under those circumstances, there is less need for competition with other groups and peaceful interaction with strangers might even be beneficial for the conservation of the species. Early humans, on the other hand, lived in nomadic groups that had to compete with other groups of humans for food. Under such circumstances, it is probably evolutionarily more beneficial to favor individuals from your own group over strangers,” Van Berlo explained.



In future research, the scientists plan to repeat this study with other species of great apes with different social organizations, such as chimpanzees, which are more competitive, male-dominated, and socially stratified. “With chimpanzees, for example, I would expect them to be more interested in the emotions of individuals they know than the emotions of strangers,” Van Berlo concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000882">Emotion</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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Bonobos are more interested in the emotions of strangers

As humans, we share many characteristics with other primates, such...

Snow-capped mountains are valuable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parts-of-asia-face-irreversible-declines-in-freshwater-storage/">freshwater</a> resources that could potentially be wiped out by global warming in the coming decades. These "water towers" provide up to 80 percent of the world's freshwater, and more than half of the global population depends on mountain ecosystems for water, food, and energy.&nbsp;



Last year, a study co-led by Alan Rhoades and Erica Siirila-Woodburn of the <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Berkeley Lab</a> predicted that mountain ranges in the western United States will regularly experience low-to-no-snow winters in 35 to 60 years if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.



In a new study, Rhoades and his colleagues have determined that mountain ranges in the southern midlatitudes will face a low-to-no-snow future much sooner. These mountains, particularly in the Andean region of Chile, may transition to low-to-no-snow conditions as early as 2046.



According to the researchers, low-to-no-snow occurs when the annual maximum water stored as snowpack is within the bottom 30 percent of historical conditions for a decade or more. The study revealed that low-to-no-snow winters will emerge in the southern midlatitudes at a third of the warming compared to the northern midlatitudes.



“These findings are pretty shocking. We assumed that both regions in the southern and northern hemispheres would respond similarly to climate change, and that the Andes would be more resilient given its high elevation,” said Rhoades. “This shows that not every degree of warming has the same effect in one region as another.”



On a positive note, the researchers found that low-to-no-snow winters can be prevented in both the northern and southern midlatitude mountain ranges if global warming is limited to 2.5 degrees Celsius. Rhoades pointed to another study from the Berkeley Lab, which found that it is possible to reach net zero CO2 emissions in the United States by 2050. This could be accomplished by rebuilding the energy infrastructure to run primarily on renewable energy.



“It just requires the will and initiative to invest financial resources at the level of urgency that climate change demands, which means we need to start doing this today,” said Rhoades.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01518-y">Nature Climate Change</a>.



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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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Mountains face low-to-no-snow winters in a warming climate

Snow-capped mountains are valuable freshwater resources that could potentially be...

Being socially connected is vital to human wellbeing but this aspect of human functioning is often impaired in people who suffer the symptoms of depression or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-sweetener-has-been-linked-to-anxiety/">anxiety</a>. They may feel withdrawn and tired, unable to find the energy or drive to interact with people. Many patients with depression tend to withdraw from social contact and would rather stay at home, or in bed, than face society.&nbsp;



A new study by researchers from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> has revealed that when depressed or anxious people perform acts of kindness towards others, the symptoms of their mental illness become less severe and they are able to heal themselves to a certain extent.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Social connection is one of the ingredients of life most strongly associated with wellbeing. Performing acts of kindness seems to be one of the best ways to promote those connections,” said David Cregg, who led the research as part of his PhD dissertation.



Cregg and his colleague Professor Jennifer Cheavens tested their acts of kindness technique in an experiment involving 122 people from central Ohio who had moderate to severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.&nbsp;



After an initial introductory session, the participants were randomly allocated to one of three different groups.&nbsp; Two of the groups received interventions that are commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments for depression. The first group was instructed to plan social activities for two days a week, and the members of the second group had to keep records, for at least two days a week, that helped them identify negative thought patterns and revise their way of thinking in order to reduce depression and anxiety (a form of cognitive reappraisal).&nbsp;



The participants in the third group were instructed to perform three acts of kindness a day, for two days out of each week. Acts of kindness were defined as “big or small acts that benefit others or make others happy, typically at some cost to you in terms of time or resources.” Examples of kind acts that participants performed included baking cookies for friends, offering to give a friend a ride, and leaving sticky notes with worlds of encouragement in places where s roommate would find them.



All three interventions continued for a period of five weeks. Participants were evaluated after week five, and then again after a further five weeks, to see whether the interventions were successful at reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety.



The researchers’ findings, published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2154695">Journal of Positive Psychology</a>, showed that helping others is a powerful technique for healing oneself. &nbsp;Although participants in all three groups showed an increase in sense of life satisfaction, and a reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms after the 10 weeks of the study, those participants in the acts of kindness group showed the greatest improvements.



“These results are encouraging because they suggest that all three study interventions are effective at reducing distress and improving satisfaction,” Cregg said. “But acts of kindness still showed an advantage over both social activities and cognitive reappraisal, by making people feel more connected to other people, which is an important part of well-being."



Cheavens noted that just taking part in social activities did not improve feelings of social connection in this study. In addition, the process of cognitive reappraisal also does not involve increasing social connectedness in any way. &nbsp;



“There’s something specific about performing acts of kindness that makes people feel connected to others. It’s not enough to just be around other people, participating in social activities,” she said.



The researchers also discovered why performing acts of kindness worked so well to improve the symptoms of people with depression or anxiety. It helped distract participants from their own suffering while they were reaching out to help and consider others.&nbsp;



“Doing nice things for people and focusing on the needs of others may actually help people with depression and anxiety feel better about themselves,” explained Cheavens.



“We often think that people with depression have enough to deal with, so we don’t want to burden them by asking them to help others. But these results run counter to that,” she said.



Cregg said that, while this study used techniques of CBT, it is not the same experience as going through a complete CBT treatment. Those who undergo the full treatment may have better results than those in this study. However, the findings do show that even the limited CBT exposure given in this study can be helpful to people with depression or anxiety.&nbsp;



“Not everyone who could benefit from psychotherapy has the opportunity to get that treatment,” she said.&nbsp;“But we found that a relatively simple, one-time training had real effects on reducing depression and anxiety symptoms.”



And even those who are able to get CBT treatment may benefit even more if they are encouraged to carry out acts of kindness towards others on a regular and ongoing basis. This study shows that helping others has a healing effect through creating vital social connections.



“Something as simple as helping other people can go above and beyond other treatments in helping heal people with depression and anxiety,” concluded Cregg.



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



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Acts of kindness can help relieve depression

Being socially connected is vital to human wellbeing but this...

A recent study led by the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> has found that the rate of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-in-climate-and-land-use-could-lead-to-catastrophic-levels-of-soil-erosion/">soil erosion</a> in the Midwestern U.S. is 10 to 1,000 times greater than pre-agricultural erosion rates. These newly discovered pre-agricultural erosion rates –reflecting the rates at which soils form – are much lower than the upper allowable limit of erosion set by the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> (USDA). These findings could have major repercussions for everything from domestic agricultural policy to global food security and climate change mitigation strategies.



The scientists made use of a rare element beryllium-10 (10Be), which forms when stars in our galaxy explode and send high-energy particles - called cosmic rays - rocketing towards the Earth. When this galactic shrapnel smashes into our planet’s crust, it splits oxygen in the soil apart, leaving small trace amounts of&nbsp;10Be, which can then be used to determine average soil erosion rates over the span of thousands to millions of years.



“We went to fourteen small patches of remnant native prairie that still exist in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, and used a hand auger to collect deep soil cores, in material that dates back to the last Ice Age,” said&nbsp;study senior author Isaac Larsen, a professor of Geosciences at UMass Amherst. “We brought this soil back to our lab at UMass, sifted it to isolate individual sand grains, removed everything that wasn’t quartz, and then ran these few spoonfuls through a chemical purification process to separate out the&nbsp;10Be - which was just enough to fit on the head of a pin.”



The researchers then sent this sample to a laboratory, where the individual&nbsp;10Be atoms were counted in order to calculate a precise rate of erosion, stretching from the present day back to the last Ice Age (about 12,000 years ago). “For the first time, we know what the natural rates of erosion are in the Midwest,” said study lead author Caroline Quarrier, who completed this research as part of her master’s thesis at UMass Amherst. “And because we now know the rate of erosion before Euro-American settlement, we can see exactly how much modern agriculture has accelerated the process.”



The results were far from encouraging. “Our median pre-agricultural erosion rate across all the sites we sampled is 0.04 mm per year,” Larsen reported. Any modern-day erosion rate higher than that value means that soil is disappearing at a faster pace than it is accumulating.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, USDA’s current limit for erosion (one millimeter per year, so 25 times greater than the average rate the researchers found) will inevitably lead to rapid loss of topsoil, which plays a critical role not only for U.S. agriculture, but also for global food security, as well as climate change mitigation strategies that rely on soil as an important carbon sink.



However, according to the scientists, there is no reason to despair yet. “There are agricultural practices, such as no-till farming, that we know how to do and we know greatly reduce erosion,” Quarrier said. “The key is to reduce our current erosion rates to natural levels,” Larsen concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G50667.1">Geology</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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Soil erosion rates have exploded in the Midwestern US

A recent study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst...

Scientists have been drilling and removing ice cores in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarcticas-emperor-penguin-officially-listed-as-endangered/">Antarctica</a> for many years with the aim of identifying characteristics of Earth’s atmosphere and climate dating back hundreds of millennia. The concentration of carbon dioxide in air bubbles trapped in the ice gives clues about levels of this greenhouse gas in the past, and the ratios of different water isotopes present in the ice can reveal how temperatures in the Antarctic have changed.&nbsp;



Using information derived from Antarctic ice cores, scientists have previously identified that, going back 800,000 years, the Antarctic climate consisted of a succession of long, cold ‘glacial’ periods interspersed roughly every 100,000 years with warm "interglacial" periods (of which the last 11,000 years is the most recent).&nbsp;



Now, in a new study of ice core data, an international team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a> has analyzed temperature changes on a seasonal scale, recording all the winter and summer temperatures going back 11,000 years to the start of the Holocene Period. Published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05411-8">Nature</a>, this study is the very first seasonal temperature record of its kind, from anywhere in the world.



“The goal of the research team was to push the boundaries of what is possible with past climate interpretations, and for us that meant trying to understand climate at the shortest timescales, in this case seasonally, from summer to winter, year-by-year, for many thousands of years,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/tyler-jones">Tyler Jones</a>, lead author on the study, and assistant research professor and fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/">Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research</a>&nbsp;(INSTAAR).



The researchers used data from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core, which is the longest ice core ever drilled by U.S. researchers. It was removed from a dome of ice in central West Antarctica in 2011 and measures 11,171 feet (3405 meters), which is over 2 miles long. This core contains atmospheric and climate data from as much as 68,000 years ago, although the researchers only used sections dating back 11,000 years.&nbsp;



For this study, the scientists analyzed a continuous record of water-isotope ratios from the WAIS ice core. The ratios between the concentration of these isotopes (elements with the same number of protons but different atomic masses) reveal information about past temperatures and atmospheric circulation, including transitions between ice ages and warm periods in Earth’s past.



In addition to providing the first data on summer and winter temperature changes in the recent past, the study also validates one aspect of a long-standing theory about Earth’s climate that has not been previously proven. It shows that seasonal temperatures in Polar Regions respond to Milankovitch cycles.&nbsp;



A century ago, Serbian scientist Milutin Milankovitch hypothesized that cyclical orbital changes in the Earth’s movement around its axis and around the sun, affect how much solar radiation reaches its surface, and can thus drive long-term climate changes and trigger the start and end of glaciation periods (ice ages).&nbsp;



“I am particularly excited that our result confirms a fundamental prediction of the theory used to explain Earth’s ice-age climate cycles: that the intensity of sunlight controls summertime temperatures in the polar regions, and thus melt of ice, too,” said Kurt Cuffey, a co-author on the study and professor at the University of California Berkeley.



It was not a straightforward matter to measure seasonal changes in Earth’s temperature from ice cores, due to their short timescales. Water isotopes tend not to stay in one place in the upper ice sheet, but instead move around in interconnected pathways (similar to the air pockets in Styrofoam) as they change states between vapor and ice, over decades or centuries, before solidifying. This process, known as diffusion, can “blur” the finely detailed data that the researchers were trying to examine.&nbsp;



Luckily the high-quality ice cores from the WAIS allowed high-resolution measurements down to seasonal level. This, along with recent advances in ice core analysis during the past 15 years, enabled the team to correct for the diffusion present in the data and obtain the detail they sought.



“Even beyond that, we had to develop new methods entirely to deal with this data, because no one’s ever seen it before. We had to go above and beyond what anyone’s done in the past,” said Jones.



“This research is something that humans can really relate to because we partly experience the world through the changing seasons – documenting how summer and winter temperature varied through time translates to how we understand climate,” he added.



These finely detailed data on long-term climate patterns of the past also provide an important baseline for other scientists, who study the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on our present and future climate. By knowing which planetary cycles occur naturally and why, researchers can better identify the human influence on climate change and its impacts on global temperatures. Interestingly, they are confident that the current period of warming is not related to any Milankovitch cycles, but is instead the result of human-produced greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.



This particular study has a long history of its own. For more than three decades, researchers at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/research/labs-groups/stable-isotope-lab">INSTAAR’s Stable Isotope Lab</a>&nbsp;at CU Boulder have been studying a variety of stable isotopes – non-radioactive forms of atoms with unique molecular signatures – found everywhere from inside ice cores and permafrost to the air in our atmosphere. Jones joined the lab in 2007 as a master’s student and has never left.



“I have this distinct memory of walking into my advisor, Jim White’s office in about 2013, and showing him that we would be able to pull out summer and winter values in this record for the last 11,000 years – which is extremely rare. In our understanding, no one had ever done this before,” said Jones. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, this is going to be a really big deal.’”



It then took almost a decade to work out how to cope with problems such as diffusion, and how to interpret the data from ice cores drilled many years earlier.&nbsp;



The team’s next step is to attempt to interpret high-resolution ice cores in other places – such as the South Pole and in northeast Greenland, where cores have already been drilled –to understand our planet’s climate variability better.



“Humans have a fundamental curiosity about how the world works and what has happened in the past, because that can also inform our understanding of what could happen in the future,” said Jones.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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.

Tracking seasonal temperature changes over 11,000 years

Scientists have been drilling and removing ice cores in Antarctica...

According to a new study published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.122.026173">Journal of the American Heart Association</a>, teenagers who reported feeling optimism, self-esteem, happiness, belongingness, and feeling loved and wanted were more likely to have better <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-can-improve-cardiometabolic-health/">cardiometabolic health</a> in their 20s and 30s compared to teens with fewer positive mental health assets. This association appeared stronger in the case of Black youth.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Although previous studies have found that psychological aspects of well-being, such as optimism and happiness, can positively influence cardiometabolic health, most of this research was conducted among older adults. By contrast, this new study focused on earlier life and took into consideration a broader measure of cardiometabolic health, including indicators of blood sugar levels and inflammation.



“We learned a lot in the last few decades about the impact of discrimination and other social risks youth of color face that may explain their elevated rates of cardiometabolic disease, however, much less attention is paid to the inherent strengths they possess and the ways those strengths may be leveraged to advance health equity,” said lead study author Farah Qureshi, an assistant professor of Social Epidemiology at the <a href="https://publichealth.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health</a>. “In this study, we wanted to shift the paradigm in public health beyond the traditional focus on deficits to one that concentrates on resource building.”&nbsp;



The scientists examined data related to health and well-being from nearly 3,500 U.S. teenagers from 1994 to 2018. Half of the participants were girls, 67 percent were white youth, 15 percent Blacks, 11 percent Latinos, and six percent Native American, Asian, or other. By using initial responses from when the participants were teenagers, the researchers identified five mental health assets related to better cardiometabolic health: optimism, happiness, self-esteem, a sense of belonging, and feeling loved. 



In addition, seven health measures aiming to examine cardiometabolic health were included and collected during clinical visits when participants were in their 20s and 30s: high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good” cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c (a measure of blood sugar), C-reactive protein (a measure of inflammation), and body mass index.



The analysis revealed that teens with four to five positive mental health assets were 69 percent more likely to maintain positive cardiometabolic health as young adults, and each additional asset conferred a 12 percent greater probability of positive cardiometabolic health. Although the assets were found to be protective across all racial and ethnic groups, the largest benefits were observed among Black youth, who also reported having more of these assets than participants from other groups.&nbsp;



However, racial disparities in cardiometabolic health were still apparent in adulthood. “These somewhat counterintuitive findings were surprising,” Qureshi said. “When we dug deeper, we found that the absence of psychological assets being was particularly health-damaging for Black youth. For Black youth – who face numerous barriers to achieving and sustaining optimal cardiometabolic health in adulthood – not having these additional mental health resources makes a big difference.”



“This work suggests that early investments in youth mental health may be a critical new frontier in the advancement of cardiometabolic health equity. We need more large-scale studies to monitor these and other positive mental health factors starting in childhood to understand how these assets may influence health and disease over the life course. This information may help us identify new ways to improve health and reduce disparities,” she 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



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.

Feeling loved as a teen linked to healthier adulthood

According to a new study published in the Journal of...

After more than three years since its beginning, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-largest-covid-wave-currently-unfolding-across-china/">Covid-19</a> pandemic still wreaks havoc around the world, with increasingly more immune-evasive variants emerging in various countries. An aspect of SARS-CoV-2 that makes it so infectious and challenging to control is its ability to outwit the body’s innate, as well as acquired (through prior infection or vaccination) immune defenses.&nbsp;



Now, by using a groundbreaking technique known as serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) has examined a viral protein called NendoU that appears to be responsible for the virus’s tactics of immune evasion.



“Our study focuses on how Covid-19 hides from the immune system using the NendoU protein,” said study lead author Rebecca Jernigan, a postdoctoral researcher in Biodesign at ASU. “As we better understand the structure and mechanics of NendoU, we have a better idea of how we can design antiviral drugs against it.”



Viruses have evolved a variety of complex strategies to evade the body’s defense mechanisms. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the protein NendoU helps the virus hide from the immune system, in plain sight. Once a viral particle binds to a receptor on a cell’s surface, it inserts its genetic material into the cell, causing it to manufacture multiple copies of the viral genome that consists of RNA. When the viruses replicate within cells, their growing RNA structure produces a tail at the end, known as a poly-U tail.



Although human cells are equipped with fine-tuned sensors for detecting invading RNA viruses - because the poly-U tail gives away their identity as foreign invaders, allowing the immune system to attack them - SARS-CoV-2 is highly adept at using its NendoU protein to bind with, then cut-off the poly-U tail, and thus causing the virus to be less visible to the immune system.



The scientists discovered that the NendoU protein acts through a two-step process. First, its more rigid half binds to the active site of the substrate - in this case, a citrate molecule – while the flexible half also binds citrate (or the RNA), but less tightly. However, once the rigid half cleaves the RNA strand, it releases the strand, and becomes flexible. At the same time, the flexible half switches to a rigid state and the cycle is repeated. This scissor-like movement of NendoU’s two main components helps to erase the telltale signal of the virus’s presence within the cell, disabling an appropriate immune response.&nbsp;



“This work is so exciting as it shows for the first time that the differences in flexibility of the protein play an important role in the functional mechanism,” said senior author Petra Fromme, the director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery at ASU. “This will be critical for development of drugs against NendoU, with potential to reveal the presence of the virus to the immune system, which can then react and hinder serious infections.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2022.12.009">Structure</a>.



—



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 Covid-19 evades the immune system

After more than three years since its beginning, the Covid-19...

From a biological perspective, islands are special places. Their isolation from mainlands leads to more rapid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-study-changes-our-understanding-of-mammal-evolution/">evolution</a> and results in the formation of unique forms of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on Earth. Madagascar is one such island. It is the fifth largest island in the world, and is known for its diversity of endemic and unique species. Sadly, many of these species are now threatened with extinction as they struggle to adapt to habitat loss, exploitation and climate change.



Approximately 90 percent of all Malagasy plants and animals occur on this island and nowhere else. Among the mammals there are more than 100 endemic species of lemurs, which are adapted to the many different habitats found on the island. There is also the cat-like fossa, which is a formidable predator, and in excess of 20 species of tenrecs. The remarkable diversity of unique animals and plants reflects the fact that the island has been isolated for about 88 million years after it split from the Indian landmass.



A team of biologists and paleontologists from Madagascar, Europe and the United States set out to understand the extent to which Madagasy mammals have been perturbed by human disturbance. They were concerned that so many of the mammal species are facing threats to their existence and set out to ascertain exactly what is at stake if environmental change and human pressures on the island wildlife continue.



The team, led by biologists from the University of Groningen (Netherlands), Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Netherlands) and the Association Vahatra (Madagascar), first established a new dataset describing the evolutionary relationships of all 249 species of mammals that were present on Madagascar at the time that humans settled permanently on the island, around 2,500 years ago. They established that of the 249 mammal species, 30 are now extinct, and a further 120 are listed in the IUCN’s Red List as threatened with extinction.



The experts estimated how long it took all these species to evolve from their common ancestors, and could then extrapolate how long it took this level of biodiversity to evolve. In this way the researchers predicted the length of time it would take for evolutionary processes to “replace” all the endangered mammals, if they were to go extinct.&nbsp;



Using a computer simulation model based on island biogeography theory, the team found that it would take approximately 3 million years to regain the number of mammal species already lost from Madagascar in the time since humans arrived. However, if currently threatened species go extinct, it would take much longer: about 23 million years of evolution would be needed to recover the same number of species.&nbsp;



Put simply, this is really bad news. “It's abundantly clear that there are whole lineages of unique mammals that only occur on Madagascar and that have either gone extinct or are on the verge of extinction, and if immediate action isn't taken, Madagascar is going to lose 23 million years of evolutionary history of mammals, which means whole lineages unique to the face of the Earth will never exist again,” said study co-author Steve Goodman, MacArthur Field Biologist at Chicago’s <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> and Scientific Officer at Association Vahatra in Antananarivo.



The staggering time it would take to recover this diversity surprised the scientists: “It is much longer than what previous studies have found on other islands, such as New Zealand or the Caribbean,” said lead researcher Luis Valente.&nbsp;



The results of this new research, published in the scientific journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35215-3">Nature Communications</a>, suggest Madagascar has reached a biodiversity tipping point and that an extinction wave with deep evolutionary impact is imminent unless immediate conservation actions are taken. However, the study finds that, with adequate conservation action, we may still preserve over 20 million years of unique evolutionary history on the island.&nbsp;



“It was already known that Madagascar was a hotspot of biodiversity, but this new research puts into context just how valuable this diversity is. These findings underline the potential gains of the conservation of nature on Madagascar from a novel evolutionary perspective," said Valente.



That doesn’t mean that, if we let all of the lemur, tenrecs, fossas and other unique Malagasy mammals go extinct, evolution will recreate them if we just wait around for 23 million more years. “It would be simply impossible to recover them,” said Goodman. Instead, the model means that to achieve a similar level of evolutionary complexity, whatever those new species might look like, would take 23 million years.



This urgent conservation work is made difficult by inequality and political corruption that keeps land-use decisions out of the hands of most Malagasy people, noted Goodman. “Madagascar’s biological crisis has nothing to do with biology. It has to do with socio-economics.” But while the situation is dire, “we can't throw in the towel. We’re obliged to advance this cause as much as we can and try to make the world understand that it’s now or never.”



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



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.

It's "now or never" for Madagascar’s endangered mammals

From a biological perspective, islands are special places. Their isolation...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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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



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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



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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



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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 



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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



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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



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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



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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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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



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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

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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

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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...