Invasive species pose a significant challenge to ecosystems and agriculture, often spreading unnoticed until they have caused considerable damage. Conservationists and growers now have an unusual new ally in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly - trained dogs.



A recent study published in the journal Ecosphere highlights how these detection dogs outperform humans in identifying lanternfly egg masses in challenging environments, offering a novel strategy to curb the pest’s spread.



"Preventing the introduction of invasive species is championed as the most cost-effective and efficient strategy for avoiding negative impacts on systems," noted the researchers.



"However, once a species has been introduced, the next best option is to detect the population and eliminate it before it becomes established and spreads more widely across the landscape."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spotted-lanternfly-infestations">Spotted lanternfly infestations </h2>



First detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, the spotted lanternfly has now infested 19 states, including New York. This invasive insect feeds on woody plants like grapes, apples, hops, and various trees, causing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/growing-threat-of-invasive-species-requires-immediate-action/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">widespread destruction</a>.



“A spotted lanternfly infestation in a vineyard can cause 80% to 100% mortality of the vines in one growing season,” said study co-author Angela Fuller, a professor in Cornell’s Department of <a href="https://cals.cornell.edu/natural-resources-environment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural Resources and the Environment</a>.



Fuller also noted the financial burden of infestations. “Infestations also increase the amount of insecticide that growers need to use, which can increase costs by up to 170% in a growing season.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-training-dogs-for-invasive-species-detection">Training dogs for invasive species detection</h2>



In collaboration with the <a href="https://www.nynjtc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York-New Jersey Trail Conference</a> and <a href="https://wd4c.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Working Dogs for Conservation</a>, researchers trained a Labrador retriever and a Belgian malinois to sniff out the lanternfly’s egg masses.



These organizations have previously trained dogs to detect invasive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-have-become-one-of-the-worlds-most-invasive-predators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">species</a> and pathogens, making them well-equipped for this task.



The study compared the efficiency of human and canine detection in 20 vineyards across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 



The researchers mapped transects in vineyard rows and adjacent forests, where egg masses are likely to overwinter. Humans and dogs surveyed the areas on separate days to prevent cross-contamination of scents.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-outperform-humans-in-forests">Dogs outperform humans in forests</h2>



While humans excelled in detecting invasive egg masses in vineyards, dogs proved superior in forested areas. In vineyards, humans detected 1.8 times more egg masses than dogs, finding 31 egg masses per hour compared to the dogs’ 24. 



Fuller attributed this to humans’ ability to systematically search vines and poles, whereas dogs relied on scent and conducted more random searches. In forests, however, dogs excelled, finding 3.4 times more egg masses than humans. 



“The dogs find egg masses by smell,” Fuller explained. “In a very <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unseen-crisis-37000-alien-species-have-been-introduced-by-human-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complex environment</a>, it’s easier for a dog to smell something than it is for a human to see something that is small and cryptic.” 



Dogs located 7.6 egg masses per hour in forests compared to humans’ 6.7 per hour.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-invasive-species-detection">Importance of invasive species detection</h2>



The study emphasizes the importance of early detection in managing the lanternfly’s spread. Dogs performed exceptionally well in areas with low egg mass densities, making them invaluable for rapid response efforts. 



Fuller noted that while dogs take more time to search than humans, the added time is worth it. 



“The extra time that dogs take to find them is not as important as it is to find them in the first place, because you need to detect the egg masses in order to eradicate them,” she said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insights-into-lanternfly-behavior">Insights into lanternfly behavior</h2>



Using computer modeling, the researchers identified patterns in lanternfly egg mass distribution. They found higher occupancy rates in vineyards than forests, particularly on metal poles. 



Vineyards near forests had higher lanternfly populations, likely because the insects don’t disperse far and often migrate from nearby trees.



“If you’re searching in a vineyard close to the forest, that’s more likely where they’re going to be,” Fuller said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-combating-invasive-species-with-dogs">Combating invasive species with dogs </h2>



This innovative approach offers hope for combating invasive species like the spotted lanternfly. 



By combining human surveys with trained detection dogs, growers and conservationists can strengthen their defense against this destructive pest.



The integration of canine detection into pest management strategies represents a significant step forward in protecting vital ecosystems and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/non-native-species-are-spreading-at-an-exponential-rate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agricultural resources</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecosphere</a>.



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Trained dogs can sniff out invasive pests in forests

Invasive species pose a significant challenge to ecosystems and agriculture, often spreading unnoticed until they have caused considerable damage. Conservationists and growers now have an unusual new ally in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly - trained dogs. A recent study published in the journal Ecosphere highlights how these detection dogs outperform humans in identifying lanternfly egg masses in challenging environments, offering a novel strategy to curb the pest’s spread. "Preventing the introduction of invasive species is championed as the most cost-effective and efficient strategy for avoiding...

The development of reading skills is a crucial step in a child's education. A new study from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/community-sleep-health-predicts-success-among-children/">children</a> can significantly improve their ability to recognize the sounds of individual letters by moving while they learn.&nbsp;



"Reading is a complex unique human skill, which serves an essential role in modern society. Poor spelling and reading skills in children and adolescents have been associated with poor academic achievement, school dropout, and lower occupational status in adulthood," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"The acquisition and development of competent reading skills in childhood are therefore critical to functioning and well-being later in life."



The researchers set out to investigate whether whole-body learning, known as embodied learning, may help children learn letter sounds.



"Our research demonstrated that children who used their whole body to shape the sounds of letters became twice as proficient at letter sounds that are more difficult to learn compared to those who received traditional instruction," said study lead author Linn Damsgaard, a PhD student in UCPH’s Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports.



"There are many difficult letter sounds in Danish and these sounds are particularly important, because once children become proficient at them, it has already been shown that they will be better readers."



The research was focused on 149 children between the ages of five and six years old who had just started school.&nbsp;



The children were divided into three groups that either stood up and used their whole body to shape letter sounds, remained seated and shaped letter sounds with their hands and arms, or learned traditionally and wrote letters out by hand.



The results showed that even those children who were seated and shaped difficult letter sounds with hand movements had a greater increase in proficiency than the children in the control group.&nbsp;



"The overarching goal is to learn more about which methods can be used to give beginner readers a good start. The idea is that if, through play and movement, we can reach children where they are and where their strengths truly lie – and we can create a form of learning that combines reading with play – then that's truly positive," said Professor Jacob Wienecke.



Prior to this study, the researchers demonstrated that children felt more motivated to learn when lessons incorporated physical movement.



The current research is the first of its kind to explore the effects of linking whole-body movement to the learning of letters and sounds. Professor Wienecke hopes this will provide an opportunity to inspire teachers and school managers to prioritize movement across subjects.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10648">Educational Psychology Review</a>.



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

Good news for active children - moving helps them learn

The development of reading skills is a crucial step in...

It is well known that a mother can soothe her distressed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/maternal-chemical-signals-help-infants-bond-with-strangers/">baby</a> better than anyone else can. With little more than a calm embrace and some soothing words, she can usually stop her baby from crying when nobody else succeeds. What is the source of this magic?&nbsp;



The calming effect of a mother has been researched in the fields of pediatrics and behavioral neuroscience, but is not yet well understood. What is known, however, is that mothers who experience post-partum depression (PPD), which affects up to 20 percent of new mothers, don’t seem to have this magic touch.



“Myriad studies have shown that mothers with post-partum depression struggle calming their distressed babies,” said John Krzeczkowski, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and with the <a href="https://www.yorku.ca/lamarsh/">LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research</a>. “However, it is not known how mothers’ soothing signals are transmitted to their baby, how postpartum depression disrupts this process, or if treating depressed mothers can alter these signals.”



In order to investigate the links between mother and infant physiology when infants were distressed, Krzeczkowski and his team worked with two sets of mother-infant pairs. In the control group, the 32 pairs of mothers and babies were healthy, but in the other group of 26 pairs, the mothers had received a PPD diagnosis within a year of giving birth.



The mother-infant pairs all went through three stages of interaction at the start of the investigation. In the play stage, mothers interacted with their infants in a normal way, for example by playing, singing, talking and touching. In the still-face stage, mothers had to maintain eye contact with their infants but show no expression and refrain from talking to or touching them. This “poker” face behavior was expected to make the infant distressed and agitated. The final reunion stage involved the mother re-engaging with her now-distressed infant and initiating normal interaction and play again. This last stage was the focus of the study.&nbsp;



During each of the stages, the mothers and infants were monitored for heart rate variability. In healthy people, the heart does not beat at a perfectly regular rate but exhibits slight beat-to-beat variations. This is especially noticeable when comparing the heart rate while a person is breathing in with the heart rate as the person exhales. Usually, the heart rate speeds up during inspiration and slows down during expiration. The phenomenon is termed respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and it is an important component of overall heart rate variability. It is also a known indicator of a person’s emotional state.



In the reunion phase in particular, the researchers were watching the RSA readings for evidence of a “feedback loop” of reciprocal heart-rate signals passing between mother and baby. They also examined whether the influence of maternal RSA on subsequent infant RSA (measured at the next second) strengthened during the time of the reunion phase.&nbsp;



The groups were tested in this way twice: once to establish a baseline and then a second time, nine weeks later. In the intervening time, the mothers with PPD received, and were observed to benefit from, a course of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that was aimed at improving their affective state. &nbsp;&nbsp;



The findings of the study show that heart rate changes in healthy mothers preceded those of their infants. According to Krzeczkowski, this suggests that the mothers were leading a “soothing dance” that calmed their infants.&nbsp; In the case of the PPD-afflicted mothers, however, it was the infants whose physiological signals led the dance, initially at least. After these mothers had received CBT treatment, their physiological signaling improved such that they then led the back-and-forth, just as the healthy mothers did.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Krzeczkowski said the results represent a breakthrough in what has long been a blind spot in behavioral neuroscience.



“This study demonstrates empirically, for the first time, that synchronized physiology between mothers and babies plays a role in soothing distressed infants, and that treating PPD with CBT can improve the synchronicity patterns and thereby augment mothers’ ability to soothe their distressed babies," explained Krzeczkowski.&nbsp;



“So we now know a bit more than we ever did before about how soothing signals are transmitted in real time on a moment-to-moment scale between mothers and infants."



The authors call for further studies to test whether an improvement in the RSA feedback loop’s soothing effects is directly attributable to the CBT treatment received by the mothers with post-partum depression.&nbsp;



“Because of our study’s observational design, we can't say categorically that positive changes were specifically due to CBT treatment," said Krzeczkowski. "The two are correlated but there could be confounding factors – for example, the specific methods that individual mothers use to calm their babies, like singing, talking and touch. But we want more people to get treatment for PPD. We hope that by showing causality and efficacy, it can increase the idea that these programs can benefit them.”



The research is published in the <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fabn0000760">Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science</a>.



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

Mothers soothe their infants with physiological signals

It is well known that a mother can soothe her...

The ocean exhibits a “memory” - the ocean temperature tomorrow typically looks a lot like it does today, with only slight changes. As a result, the ocean's memory is often used for predicting various conditions.&nbsp;



Ocean memory decline is a collective response across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forested-areas-may-help-protect-pollinators-in-a-warming-climate/">climate</a> models to human-induced warming. As greenhouse-gas concentrations continue to rise, memory decline will become increasingly evident, as if the ocean is developing amnesia.



“We discovered this phenomenon by examining the similarity in ocean surface temperature from one year to the next as a simple metric for ocean memory,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/huidshi/">Hui Shi</a>, lead author and researcher at the Farallon Institute in Petaluma, California.&nbsp;



Ocean memory is related to the thickness of the uppermost sea layer, known as the mixed layer. Deeper mixed layers have greater heat content, which results in more thermal inertia that translates into memory. However, the mixed layer over most oceans will become shallower in response to continued global warming, resulting in a decline in ocean memory.&nbsp;



“Other processes, such as changes in ocean currents and changes in the energy exchange between the atmosphere and ocean, also contribute to changes in ocean memory, but the shoaling of the mixed layer depth and resulting memory decline happens in all regions of the globe, and this makes it an important factor to consider for future climate predictions,” said study co-author Robert Jnglin Wills.



The thinning mixed layer is also found to increase random fluctuations of the sea surface temperature. Although the ocean will not become much more variable from one year to the next, helpful signals for prediction will be reduced. This can create new challenges in understanding oceans under further warming conditions, and could influence how we manage sensitive marine ecosystems.&nbsp;



“Reduced memory means less time in advance for a forecast to be made. This could hinder our ability to predict and prepare for ocean change including marine heatwaves, which are known to have caused sudden and pronounced changes in ocean ecosystems around the world,” said study co-author Michael Jacox, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Monterey, California.



For the management of fisheries, estimates are used that assume a stable environment similar to the past. Reduced memory might make estimation inaccurate. This would require new approaches to include real-time ocean monitoring.&nbsp;



“Reduced ocean memory together with increased random fluctuations suggest intrinsic changes in the system and new challenges in prediction under warming,” said study co-author Professor Fei-Fei Jin of the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii at Mānoa</a>.



This phenomenon could also impact biological resources. Depending on whether species adapt, future changes in their population can be better estimated and predicted by taking ocean memory loss into consideration.&nbsp;



Land-based impacts on temperature, precipitation as well as extreme events might also be affected by ocean memory decline due to their dependence on sea surface temperature as a predictability source.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm3468">Science Advances&nbsp;</a>



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

The ocean is losing its memory and becoming less predictable

The ocean exhibits a “memory” - the ocean temperature tomorrow...

A research team led by the <a href="https://muvp.business.site/">Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center</a> (MUVP) in Egypt has recently described a new, bizarre-looking species of meat-eating dinosaur, with a squashy face similar to a bulldog’s and tiny, stumpy arms. This species – which is yet to be named by the experts - belonged to the abelisauridae clade (a family of theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous period), measured roughly six meters in length, and roamed the Sahara Desert around 98 million years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In 2016, the scientists discovered a well-preserved vertebra from the base of this dinosaur’s neck during an expedition to the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt funded by the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/">National Geographic Society</a>. It is the oldest known fossil of abelisauridae from northeastern Africa, and offers new evidence that, during the mid-Cretaceous, these massive, carnivorous dinosaurs ranged across most of the northern part of the African continent.



The researchers could tell that the vertebra belonged to an abelisaurid dinosaur because it was highly similar to vertebras of other, previously discovered abelisaurids, such as those of carnotaurus and viavenator in Argentina, or majungasaurus in Madagascar. “I’ve examined abelisaurid skeletons from Patagonia to Madagascar,”&nbsp;said study co-author Patrick O’Connor, a paleontologist at <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/">Ohio University</a>. “My first glimpse of this specimen from field photos left no doubt about its identity. Abelisaurid neck bones are just so distinctive.”



These are not the first dinosaur fossils found in the Bahariya Oasis. In the early 20th century, scientists discovered a variety of dinosaur bones in this region, including some belonging to the colossal sail-backed fish-eating spinosaurus. Unfortunately, all the fossils collected at this location before World War II were destroyed during an Allied bombing of Munich in 1944.



“The Bahariya Oasis has taken on near-legendary status among paleontologists for having produced the first-known fossils of some of the world’s most amazing dinosaurs,” said study co-author Matthew Lamanna, a paleontologist at the <a href="https://carnegiemnh.org/">Carnegie Museum of Natural History</a>. “But for more than three quarters of a century, those fossils have existed only as pictures in old books.”



“During the mid-Cretaceous, the Bahariya Oasis would’ve been one of the most terrifying places on the planet,” said study lead author Belal Salem, a paleontologist at MUVP.&nbsp;“How all these huge predators managed to coexist remains a mystery, though it’s probably related to their having eaten different things, their having adapted to hunt different prey,” he concluded.



A detailed description of this specimen can be found in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220106">Royal Society Open Science</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Image Credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History



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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

Bizarre, bulldog-faced dinosaur discovered in Egypt

A research team led by the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology...

Today, on <a href="https://worldoceanday.org/">World Ocean Day</a>, the global community unites to raise awareness about ocean <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-land-conservation-stop-the-biodiversity-crisis/">conservation</a>. This year's focus is the 30×30 goal, a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30 percent of Earth's land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030.&nbsp;



In 2020, a comprehensive report by more than 100 economists and scientists confirmed just how valuable that the establishment of more protected areas would be for the global economy.&nbsp;



The experts considered various scenarios of protecting at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean. The study revealed that the benefits of protected areas outweigh the costs by a ratio of at least five to one.&nbsp;



In May 2019, the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services revealed that one million species are threatened with extinction. The study also showed that three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66 percent of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions.



The authors of the IPBES report said that it is not too late to conserve and restore nature, but that transformative change - such as expanding and effectively managing the current network of protected areas - will be needed.&nbsp;



"Leading scientists worldwide have determined a healthy ocean is a critical part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity crises," says the World Ocean Day network.



"By supporting 30×30, we can protect our planet’s life support systems - specifically the interconnected issues of ocean, climate, and biodiversity.  Currently, less than 17 percent of land and eight percent of the ocean worldwide is protected."



"The good news is, due to the efforts of the growing global 30×30 movement, including those involved in the World Ocean Day network, more than 90 countries have already committed to protecting at least 30 percent of their land and ocean by 2030."



"With your help, and by working with youth and organizational leaders worldwide, together we will continue to grow the global movement to protect at least 30 percent of our blue planet by 2030 and safeguard our future."



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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

World Ocean Day: Take action to protect and restore nature

Today, on World Ocean Day, the global community unites to...

In recent winters, Northeast China has experienced more frequently persistent cold events with very low temperatures lasting for over three consecutive days. Such <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-hot-and-cold-weather-events-may-share-the-same-mechanism/">extreme weather events</a> had devastating effects on agriculture, transportation, power infrastructure, and health. 



For instance, the prolonged cold event of -30°C to -40°C observed in Northeast China and eastern Inner Mongolia Province from mid-January to mid-February, 2012, affected 41 thousand people, damaged 25 thousand houses, and led to $1.8 million in economic losses. Thus, understanding what drives the occurrence of such events is crucial for both scientists and the larger public.



While previously, scientists have argued that these persistent cold events are triggered by cold air from the polar regions, a recent study led by the <a href="https://en.nuist.edu.cn/">Nanjing University of Information Science &amp; Technology</a> (NUIST) has identified another crucial factor driving the occurrence of such events: the tropical thunderstorms related to eastward-propagating low-frequency cloud clusters (known in the meteorological community as the Madden-Julian oscillation).&nbsp;



“We found that occurrence probabilities of persistent extreme cold events over Northeast China are significantly increased when cloud clusters are located over the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific,” explained study lead author Yitian Qian, a postdoctoral fellow at NUIST. “But the triggering mechanisms of tropical cloud clusters in the two basins (Indian Ocean vs. western Pacific) on the Northeast China’s cold events are distinct.”



According to the scientists, when the cloud clusters of Madden-Julian oscillation are located over the Indian Ocean, a cooling effect induced by ascending motion over Northeast China emerges, leading to the occurrence of persistent extreme cold events. However, when the tropical cloud clusters propagate toward the western Pacific region, extreme cold in Northeast China is caused by cold air transportation from northern regions.



“Understanding the influential factors of persistent extreme cold events in Northeast China may help us to better assess the model prediction skill and thus improve the models’ accuracy in predicting the disastrous extreme cold events in Northeast China in a few weeks ahead,” concluded study corresponding author Pang-chi Hsu, an expert in Atmospheric Science at NUIST.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/atmospheric-and-oceanic-science-letters">Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters</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

Tropical thunderstorms trigger extreme cold events in China

In recent winters, Northeast China has experienced more frequently persistent...

The importance of coral reefs in aquatic ecosystems cannot be underestimated. They are the engineers of the deep sea, creating habitat and helping to secure the survival of many species on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/how-the-ocean-and-climate-influence-each-other/">ocean</a> floor.&nbsp;



Yet, these heroes of the ocean are not invincible. Coral survival is impacted by changes in their environment, such as fluctuations in temperature, acidity, oxygen, and food availability. Any of these factors can affect the health of corals and the survival of the creatures who depend on them.&nbsp;



Researchers at the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences of the University of Bremen (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-bremen-marum">MARUM</a>) wanted to know more about how corals are affected by environmental change. To investigate, they examined the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa.&nbsp;



“We looked back into the past to understand how Lophelia pertusa reacted to environmental changes," said study first author Rodrigo da Costa Portilho-Ramos.



The study considered the most crucial environmental parameters over the last 20,000 years. This time period represents the warming of the planet since the last glaciation.&nbsp;



The experts found that L. pertusa would disappear and then reappear from an area when the oxygen content or food supply changed. They also discovered that temperature and salinity did not seem to affect the ability of the coral to survive or reproduce.&nbsp;



“We therefore assume that food supply and availability of oxygen are the primary factors that determine the life or death of cold-water corals," said Portilho-Ramos.



The research team could not determine the effect of acidification over the long term because it was not possible to measure the history of acidification in the ocean.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Deep-sea corals affect many aspects of the marine ecosystem, from nutrient cycles to fish reproductive success. The team believes the information gathered in their study will help inform future marine conservation in an ever-changing climate.&nbsp;



"Here, we present the synthesis of 6 case studies from the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, revealing that food supply controlled by export production and turbulent hydrodynamics at the seabed exerted the strongest impact on coral vitality during the past 20,000 years, whereas locally low oxygen concentrations in the bottom water can act as an additional relevant stressor," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"The fate of cold-water corals in a changing ocean will largely depend on how these oceanographic processes will be modulated. Future ocean deoxygenation may be compensated regionally where the food delivery and food quality are optimal."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/">PLoS Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Global warming and corals: How the past informs the present

The importance of coral reefs in aquatic ecosystems cannot be...

In winter and early spring, freezing rain is an increasingly frequent weather disaster in many regions of the world, sometimes occurring even in the tropics. Since it has a significant negative impact on electrical transmission infrastructure, transportation systems, and the general public, understanding the causes triggering this phenomenon is essential. A research team led by the <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">Institute of Atmospheric Physics</a> (IAP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has now investigated the relation between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/skin-hair-products-air-pollution/">air pollution</a> and the emergence of such weather events.



In order for freezing rain to occur, raindrops need to remain supercooled (below 0°C) in the atmosphere. While previous studies have attributed the presence of supercooled drops in the atmosphere to the lack of ice nuclei, recent research has found that this is in fact not the case, since ice nuclei remain in supercooled drops when snow melts and forms these drops at even higher and warmer atmospheric levels. According to the IAP researchers, elevated soluble chemicals help the drops stay supercooled through a chemical effect known as “freezing point depression.”



The scientists reached this conclusion by conducting a long-term measurement of the physical and chemical composition of freezing rain at Mount Heng in southcentral China. Since the elevation of the sampling site is 1265.9 meters, above the top of the atmospheric boundary layer, low temperatures in the winter favor the occurrence of supercooled fog and freezing rain. However, chemical analyses over a seven-year period have found that the freezing rain at Mount Heng was acidic, with higher concentrations of soluble ions and organic matter than those in rain. The study revealed that, as the concentrations of soluble ions (particularly ammonium nitrate) increase, the ambient temperatures of freezing rain showed decreasing trends.



“This study presented the first chemical view on freezing rain, a physical phenomenon in traditional belief,” said study co-author Ronald Stewart, an expert in Atmospheric Physics at the <a href="https://umanitoba.ca/">University of Manitoba</a> in Canada. “The higher ionic concentration may depress the temperature needed to freeze raindrops and this process prolongs the existence of freezing rain.”



“Against the background of global warming, the influencing area of the freezing rain will shift northward, and the effect of freezing point depression induced by air pollution in northern China may be amplified,” concluded co-author Xiaying Zhu, a climate scientist at the <a href="http://bcc.ncc-cma.net/">Beijing Climate Center</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231022002059?via%3Dihub#!">Atmospheric Environment</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

Air pollution increases freezing rain in the Northern Hemisphere

In winter and early spring, freezing rain is an increasingly...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/home.html">Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research</a> (Leibniz-IZW) has found that the numerous deaths of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-play-an-active-role-in-plant-pollination/">bats</a> caused by wind turbines (WT) in Germany have a negative impact on the populations of affected species, as well as far-reaching consequences for the biodiversity of rural areas. According to the experts, since bats play an important role in the natural regulation of insect populations, their loss makes ecosystems more vulnerable to disturbances and has negative effects on agriculture and forestry.&nbsp;



The researchers investigated the prey spectrum of the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula), a bat species that frequently dies at wind turbines in Germany. By analyzing the stomach content of 17 common noctules killed at wind turbines, they found DNA traces of 46 insect species from nine orders (most of them beetles and moths). Twenty percent of these insects – including, for example, the chestnut weevil (Curculio elephas) or the chestnut fruit moth (Cydia splendana) - are considered pests in agriculture and forestry. Thus, the loss of bats disrupts existing food chains and can lead to higher numbers of pests and nuisance species.



“We have to reckon with more than 200,000 bats per year dying at WTs,” said study co-author Christian Voigt, a wildlife biologist at Leibniz-IZW. “If we continue to tolerate this high number of victims at WTs, fewer and fewer insect pests will be consumed by bats.”&nbsp;



While energy production from wind power indisputably contributes to reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, the disruptions to food-webs caused by bat casualties can have major, unpredictable ecological side-effects for a variety of animal species. “We do not know the consequences of this current land use intensification for biodiversity and the resilience of these habitats. This is all the more regrettable because this transformation is currently being carried out on a grand scale in our landscapes,” explained Dr. Voigt.



“We still need to understand in much greater detail which effects the energy transition has on the biological diversity in these habitats. There is no question that the installed wind turbines contribute to the protection of the global climate and thus also to the conservation of biodiversity.”&nbsp;



However, according to study lead author Carolin Scholtz - a doctoral student in Ecological Dynamics at Leibniz-IZW - the numerous casualties of bats, “is often difficult for the populations to buffer, as the affected species have low reproduction rates. Unfortunately, not only do individuals disappear from the landscape, their interactions in complex food webs are also lost.”



According to the scientists, an important first step towards the conservation of bats and their crucial role in their habitats is the implementation of mandatory shutdowns of wind turbines during periods of high bat activity. Such actions would limit the negative consequences on ecosystems of the intensification of land use caused by the energy transition to wind power.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.12744">Conservation Science and Practice</a>.



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

Bat deaths caused by wind turbines disrupt natural food chains

A new study led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-vegetables-can-protect-us-against-air-pollutants/">pollutants</a> (POPs) that are distributed globally, from the high Arctic and Antarctic to the Mariana Trench in the deep Pacific Ocean. Once used in dielectric fluids to reduce the risk of explosion in capacitors and transformers, and also used as plasticizers and flame retardants in products such as building materials and paints, the production of these chemicals was banned in most countries in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, the remaining stocks are managed globally under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, which requires signatory countries to have strategies for environmentally sound management (ESM) of PCBs by 2028.&nbsp;



In a new analysis of the progress towards environmentally sound management of PCBs, researchers from Masaryk University, the University of Toronto, and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) have found that considerable impediments still exist in many countries, making the achievement of the goal of removing all stocks of these highly hazardous chemicals by the 2028 deadline almost unattainable.&nbsp;



The report, published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c01204">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>, states that an estimated 1.3 million tons of pure PCBs were manufactured between 1930 and 1993 in at least 10 countries, primarily in the USA, followed by West Germany, the USSR, and France. These PCBs were widely exported from manufacturing countries, resulting in their use in at least 114 countries.&nbsp;



Through use and subsequent poor management, the 1.3 million tons initially produced expanded to 17 million tons of PCB-contaminated materials and waste. It is estimated that 20–35 percent of PCBs have already been released into the environment while more than 10 million tons of PCB-containing materials remain and pose public health and environmental threats globally.



The Stockholm Convention on POPs currently has 185 signatories (184 countries plus the European Union). It aims to ban the production of PCBs totally, and to phase out in-use PCBs by 2025. It also requires that signatory countries introduce inventories of their current stocks of the chemicals and establish strategies to ensure environmentally sound management (ESM) of materials with &gt;0.005% (50 mg/kg) PCB content by 2028. ESM largely consists of chemical destruction by high-temperature combustion methods for waste with high PCB content and burial in specially engineered landfills or underground mines for waste with low PCB content.&nbsp;



The purpose of the current report was primarily to understand the extent of the future threat still posed by PCBs to human and ecosystem health. In addition, it sought to assess the successes and failures of the world’s countries in managing PCBs and in moving towards environmentally sound management and permanent removal of these hazardous substances.&nbsp;



Some of the most important findings from the report, titled Persistent Problem: Global Challenges to Managing PCBs, include the following:&nbsp;



<ul><li>forty-two percent of signatories to the Stockholm Convention have no PCB inventories and are unaware of the amounts and locations of PCB stocks in their countries;</li><li>only 30 percent of signatories to the Stockholm Convention are on track to meet the target of environmentally sound management of all PCBs by 2028;&nbsp;</li><li>a lack of administrative, financial, and political capacities are key impediments to successfully managing PCB stocks, especially in low-income countries, despite these countries not being responsible for most PCB production or use;</li><li>the U.S., the world’s largest producer and user of PCBs, was found to have decreased its sizable stocks by only about 3 percent since 2006. Despite having the financial capacity to responsibly eliminate PCBs, the U.S. has no regulatory deadlines to do so, is not a party to the Stockholm Convention, and its PCB inventory is poorly documented compared to those of Canada and Czechia;</li><li>Canada and Czechia, both parties to the Stockholm Convention, are close to achieving the 2028 goal, having reduced their stocks of pure PCBs by 99% in the past ten years.</li></ul>



The analysis of progress towards ESM showed that, of the 174 signatory countries that have submitted reports, 72 national PCB inventories (42 percent) are partial or preliminary. Many inventories are limited to transformers and/or only to the public electricity sector, which may capture only half of the uses of PCBs (considering 48 percent of the chemicals produced were used in transformers). An additional 23 countries (13 percent) reported complete PCB inventories but no capacity to achieve ESM, while 11 countries had inventories and capacity to manage PCBs but had made no significant progress toward ESM. One country, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), still manufactures PCBs.&nbsp;



The number of countries achieving or progressing toward ESM was small; 34 countries (18 percent) are progressing toward ESM through removal from use and destruction of PCB materials. Only 23 countries (13 percent) have achieved ESM of PCBs and, with three exceptions (Nepal, Kenya, and Micronesia), all of these 23 countries are classified as “high income” countries by the World Bank. Only three countries classified as “low development”/“low income” are currently making substantial progress toward ESM of PCBs: Benin, Rwanda, and Uganda.



The authors of the report state that their analysis has limitations and may therefore not be fully accurate. They say they may be presenting the worst-case scenario since countries may have made unreported progress toward PCB elimination. But conversely, many countries reported incomplete inventories (e.g., only inventories of transformers owned by a national electricity provider), and thus most may have under-recorded true stocks.



They conclude that the failure to manage global PCB stocks more than 30 years after the end of production highlights the possibility that similar problems may well plague the future control and management of other POPs. There is thus an urgent need to prioritize the reduction of manufacture and use of newer, more widely distributed POPs such as chlorinated paraffins and per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, as these management challenges are unlikely to be resolved in the coming decades.



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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

Long-banned toxic chemicals remain a global threat

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are...

New research shows that the red panda, despite having fans everywhere, is being pushed closer to the precipice of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unchecked-emissions-may-lead-to-marine-mass-extinction/">extinction</a>. When PhD researcher Damber Bista of the University of Queensland tracked red pandas using GPS collars, he discovered that their habitat is being fragmented.



“Our research findings show that current patterns of habitat fragmentation and forest exploitation, from infrastructure projects such as new roads, are placing the red panda under increased threat,” said Bista.



“Because of this, red pandas are changing their activity to minimize their interactions with disturbances, such as humans, dogs, or livestock, and this is drastically interfering with natural interactions between the animals, resulting in population isolation.”



Bista traveled to Nepal to tag and collar pandas, which allowed him to track the animals remotely from Queensland on his computer. COVID restrictions made it impossible for him to return to Nepal, as was the original plan.&nbsp;



“The satellite tracking allowed me to monitor the red pandas remotely here in Brisbane, while I relied on my friends and colleagues in Nepal to install cameras and conduct the field surveys," said Bista. "It was a surreal experience, I would spend many hours a day during COVID lockdowns in my home, watching the movement of red pandas in Nepal on my computer.”



This study is only the fifth of its kind to be conducted on wild red pandas, and the second carried out in Nepal.&nbsp;



“It’s difficult to know how many red pandas are left in the world, but it is estimated that 10,000 are left in the wild, and between 500 to 1000 are in Nepal,” said Bista.“With the findings from this study showing fragmentation of their habitat, together with a previous study on the impacts of poaching, I am concerned about the future of this species."



“While red pandas can adapt to habitat impacts to some extent, they may be susceptible to local extinction under these conditions, placing the wider population of the species at risk.”



The shrinking forest habitat of the panda forces the animals to make hard decisions. For instance, they have to decide whether to live closer to predators or adapt to life near encroaching humans.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“As you’d expect, it’s in an animal’s best interest to avoid its predators, but as we continue to build more roads and infrastructure, that drastically reduces the capacity for red pandas to do this,” Bista said, “As the availability of suitable forests shrink, it’s up to the red panda to weigh up its options on how to best survive.



Unfortunately, these types of compromises can lead towards a decline in red panda populations and possibly to eventual extinction.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10980">Landscape Ecology</a>.



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

Red pandas face shrinking habitats and tough decisions

New research shows that the red panda, despite having fans...

Babies who were exposed to COVID in the womb appear to have different neurodevelopmental outcomes than non-exposed infants at six weeks of age, according to research that was presented at the 30th <a href="https://epa-congress.org/">European Congress of Psychiatry</a>.



“Not all babies born to mothers infected with COVID show neurodevelopmental differences, but our data shows that their risk is increased in comparison to those not exposed to COVID in the womb," explained project leader Dr. Rosa Ayesa Arriola.



The babies of infected mothers found it more challenging to relax. They also had more difficulty controlling their head and shoulder movements.



“We found that certain elements of the NBAS [Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale] measurement were changed in 6-week-old infants who had been exposed to the SARS-COV-2 virus. Effectively they react slightly differently to being held, or cuddled," explained Águeda Castro Quintas&nbsp;



The researchers recognize that their sample size of 21 exposed infants and 21 non-exposed infants is small. They are also aware that a longitudinal study is needed.



“Of course, in babies who are so young there are several things we just can’t measure, such as language skills or cognition," said Nerea San Martín González. "We also need to be aware that this is a comparatively small sample, so we are repeating the work, and we will follow this up over a longer period. We need a bigger sample to determine the role of infection on offspring’s neurodevelopmental alterations and the contribution of other environmental factors.”



The study is part of a larger project, and the researchers plan to collaborate with other projects.&nbsp;



“We need to note that these are preliminary result, but this is part of a project following a larger sample of 100 mothers and their babies. They have also been monitored during pregnancy, and after birth," said Quintas.



"We also plan to compare these mothers and babies with data from another similar project (the epi-project) which looks at the effect of stress and genetics on a child’s neurodevelopment."



The researchers believe this study will help to inform how we treat affected individuals as they grow.&nbsp;



“Research in this field is vital in understanding and preventing possible neurological problems and mental health vulnerabilities in those children in the coming years," said Arriola.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Babies exposed to COVID may have slower neurodevelopment

Babies who were exposed to COVID in the womb appear...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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