Many young adults struggle to put food on the table. What may seem like a temporary hardship could have lasting effects on health. A new study from Northwestern Medicine found that those who experienced food insecurity had a 41% higher chance of developing cardiovascular disease later in life. 



Even after accounting for demographic and socioeconomic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-molecule-could-shape-the-future-of-food-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">differences</a>, the risk remained significant.



Food insecurity affects one in eight households in the U.S. each year. It refers to the struggle to access enough nutritious food to maintain good health. This study confirms that this insecurity plays a direct role in increasing heart disease risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-insecurity-as-a-preventable-risk">Food insecurity as a preventable risk</h2>



“We’ve known that food insecurity and heart disease often go hand in hand, but this study shows, for the first time, that food insecurity comes first,” said Dr. Jenny Jia, an instructor of general internal medicine and preventive medicine at <a href="https://www.nm.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northwestern University</a> Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine internist. 



“That makes it a clear target for prevention — if we address food insecurity early, we may be able to reduce the burden of heart disease later.”



The research suggests that targeting food insecurity could prevent heart disease before it begins. Early intervention may lower future healthcare burdens and improve long-term <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/critical-food-crops-are-threatened-by-rising-temperatures-globally/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">health outcomes</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-access-among-young-adults">Food access among young adults</h2>



The study was focused on data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which has tracked Black and white U.S. adults since the mid-1980s.



The researchers identified participants who reported food insecurity between 2000 and 2001, then compared their health outcomes over the next 20 years to those with stable food access.



Among the 3,616 participants, those who experienced food insecurity were 41% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Over two decades, 11% of food-insecure individuals developed heart disease, compared to only 6% of those who had adequate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coal-emissions-threaten-indias-food-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">food</a> access.



“For a long time, there was this chicken-or-the-egg question - does food insecurity cause heart disease, or does heart disease make food insecurity worse because of the high cost of healthcare?” Jia said.



“By following people over two decades, we were able to show that food insecurity, on its own, significantly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”



The researchers discovered that people with a lack of food security were more likely to be Black and have lower levels of education compared to those with stable food access. This suggests that food insecurity is not just about access to meals but is also linked to broader social and economic inequalities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-screening-for-food-insecurity">Screening for food insecurity</h2>



Jia noted that these findings highlight the importance of screening for food insecurity in healthcare settings. Identifying inadequate nutrition early and connecting patients with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/futuristic-food-supply-transforming-co2-into-protein/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">resources</a> could help reduce future health risks.



Primary care settings offer an ideal space for screening. “Because there tends to be a lot of trust between primary care providers and patients,” Jia explained. 



She also suggests extending screenings to emergency rooms and specialties like cardiology. “The more we screen for it, the better,” Jia said.



“We need better strategies to help people once they screen positive. Do we connect them to social workers who can refer them to existing community programs? Should healthcare systems develop their own interventions? These are the next big questions.”



Food insecurity screenings can be conducted by internists, pediatricians, family doctors, nurses, and medical assistants. Even self-reported forms could help identify those at risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-term-effects-of-food-insecurity">Long-term effects of food insecurity </h2>



Jia and her team plan to continue monitoring this group to understand the long-term <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-waste-crisis-why-u-s-goals-remain-out-of-reach/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consequences</a> of food insecurity.



“It’s surprising to see heart disease in this group, which doesn’t include those 65 or older,” Jia said. “As they near 80, we plan to revisit the study to explore the evolving link to heart disease.”



This study was conducted with support from the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (<a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NHLBI</a>) in collaboration with institutions such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, and the <a href="https://digital.ahrq.gov/organization/kaiser-foundation-research-institute" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kaiser Foundation Research Institute</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2831124" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JAMA Cardiology</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

Food insecurity can lead to heart problems later in life

Many young adults struggle to put food on the table. What may seem like a temporary hardship could have lasting effects on health. A new study from Northwestern Medicine found that those who experienced food insecurity had a 41% higher chance of developing cardiovascular disease later in life. Even after accounting for demographic and socioeconomic differences, the risk remained significant. Food insecurity affects one in eight households in the U.S. each year. It refers to the struggle to access enough nutritious food to maintain good health. This...

Previous studies have concluded that every 3.6 years spent in higher education lessens one’s risk for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/skipping-breakfast-heart-disease/">heart disease</a> by a third. But up until now, scientists weren’t quite sure why that is. 

Now, scientists from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a>, <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/homepage/">University of Bristol</a>, <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>, and <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, have used statistical and genetic analyses to clarify the link between education and heart disease. 

Their new research is published in <a href="https://www.bmj.com/">The BMJ</a>.

"Although we know from previous research that someone who spends more time in education has a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, we didn't know why,” said co-first author Dr. Dipender Gill, from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/school-public-health">Imperial's School of Public Health</a>. “Surprisingly, our research suggests only half of this protective effect comes from lower weight, blood pressure and less time smoking.”

In fact, the team found that only 40% of the effect on higher education on cardiovascular health can be explained by a person’s body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, or smoking habits.

Furthermore, the study revealed that each 3.6 additional years in education often lowered BMI by 1kg/m2, as well as systolic blood pressure by 3mm/Hg.

“We now need to investigate what other reasons may link education and lower cardiovascular disease risk,” Dr. Gill continued. “One possibility is that people who spend more time in education tend to engage more with healthcare services, and see their doctor sooner with any health complaints."

"Past policies that increase the duration of compulsory education have improved health and such endeavours must continue,” added co-first author Alice Carter, from the University of Bristol. “However, intervening on education is difficult to achieve and requires large amounts of both societal and political change.”

“Our work shows that there are opportunities to intervene, after education is completed, to reduce the potential risk of heart disease,” Carter continued. “By lowering BMI, blood pressure or rates of smoking in individuals who left school at an earlier age, we could reduce their overall risk of heart disease.” 

The team first analyzed data from over 200,000 U.K. residents who had spent a number of years in education. They compared and contrasted the number of years spent in school to each participant’s BMI, blood pressure, smoking habits, and past cardiovascular health issues like heart attack or stroke.

They then used Mendelian randomisation, which involved using genetic information from public databases for over a million people in order to investigate the link between education and cardiovascular disease risk. The team focused in on a minute DNA difference that has been linked to schooling, aiming to link this genetic marker with BMI, blood pressure, and smoking habits.

These methods of analysis revealed that BMI, blood pressure, and smoking contribute to the effect of education — 18%, 27%, and 34% respectively (a combined 40%).

“It is important to note this work looks at the effect of education on a population level risk of heart disease — and leaving school earlier does not necessarily mean an individual will go on to develop heart disease,” Carter explained. And Dr. Gill added that most of the individuals studied are from European descent. The team plans to widen their research to involve other ethnicities. 

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Having a higher level of education lessens risk of heart disease

Previous studies have concluded that every 3.6 years spent in...

Palliative care and hospice care provide comfort to patients and aim to improve the quality of life for those suffering from severe and terminal illnesses. Unlike hospice care, palliative care can and should be an active part of a patient’s treatment plan.  

Now, a new study has revealed that the number of people who will need palliative care is set to double in the next forty years.

Due to the severity of illnesses involved and the constant care required, palliative care can strain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insurance-prescribing-healthy-food/">health care systems</a> and future demand for palliative care is only expected to increase. 

In the first study of its kind, researchers from <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College London</a> modeled future palliative care projections to help strengthen care policies and ensure that communities expected to be most affected by severe illness and suffering are accounted for. 

“Palliative care can relieve suffering for patients and families, and save money for health systems and society,” said Dr. Katherine Sleeman, the lead author of the study. “To direct effective health care planning and policy development, it is essential to understand both the current and future level of palliative care need.”

The study was published in the journal The Lancet Global Health, and the researchers used the  <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/new-country-classifications-income-level-2018-2019">World Bank’s income classification</a> to model estimates for suffering by gender, age, location, and cause of death. 

By 2060, the number of people with serious suffering will increase, and 48 million people will die with health-related suffering each year. 

The majority of people affected will be those from low and middle-income countries, the researchers found. 

“Palliative care and the relief of suffering have been described as some of the most neglected dimensions of global health today,” said Professor Richard Harding Herbert Dunhill, a co-author of the study. “It is estimated that just 14% of the people who need palliative care globally receive it, most of whom are in high-income countries.”

Older adults will face a rapid increase in health-related suffering, primarily due to cancer and dementia. 

The study results call for a dramatic overhaul in palliative care policies to ensure that lower and middle-income populations are not denied access to care. 

“Immediate global action to integrate palliative care into health systems is an ethical and economic imperative,” said Sleeman. “Our findings call for global policies to strengthen health care systems through availability of essential drugs to relieve symptoms, staff training and public education, with a focus on the populations that will experience the fastest rise of suffering and need.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Number of people in need of palliative care is expected to double by 2060

Palliative care and hospice care provide comfort to patients and...

New research from <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> has linked specific cancers to the lack or excess of certain foods and sugary beverages. The study is one of the first of its kind to investigate the modifiable risk factors for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/toxic-contaminants-californias-tap-water/">cancer</a> that are associated with food intake among American adults.

According to the study, diet-related factors may account for more than 80,000 new invasive cancer cases that were reported in 2015, which is the equivalent of 5.2 percent of all new cases that year. This estimate is comparable to the cancer risk associated with alcohol of 4 to 6 percent.

Study first author Fang Fang Zhang is a cancer and nutrition researcher at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

“Our findings underscore the opportunity to reduce cancer burden and disparities in the United States by improving food intake,” said Zhang.

The researchers noted that a diet low in whole grains and dairy yet high in processed or red meat was linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Furthermore, high processed meat consumption was linked to stomach cancer risk, while low fruit and vegetable consumption was tied to cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx.

Colorectal cancer had the highest proportion of diet-related cases, with 38.3 percent of all cases in 2015 connected to poor diets. Cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx was the second most frequent cancer linked to food intake.

[caption id="attachment_1872978" align="aligncenter" width="640"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/diet.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-1872978" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/diet.png" alt="" width="640" height="320" /></a> Image Credit: Nako Kobayashi/Tufts University[/caption]

The largest number and proportion of new cancer cases was attributed to low whole grain intake, followed by low dairy, high processed meat, low vegetable and fruit, high red meat, and high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jncics">JNCI Cancer Spectrum</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New research links specific types of cancer to poor diets

New research from Tufts University has linked specific cancers to...

In the past 15 years, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/opioid-overdose-deaths-increased-fourfold/">opioid abuse</a> has dramatically increased among adults in the United States. During the same time frame, there has been a steep rise in suicide attempts among young people. A new study led by researchers at the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a> has identified a link between these two epidemics.

“Until now, there has been little focus on the association between the increase in opioid use among adults and the risk of suicidal behavior by their children,” said study senior author Dr. Robert D. Gibbons. 

“We theorized such a link was plausible because parental substance abuse is a known risk factor for suicide attempts by their children. In addition, depression and suicide attempts by parents - which are known to be related to suicidal behavior in their offspring - are more common among adults who abuse opioids.”

The investigation was focused on data from 2010 to 2016 involving more than 240,000 parents between the ages of 30 and 50 years old. Half of the subjects had filled opioid prescriptions for at least 365 days, and the other half had no history of using the drug during that time. 

For the same six-year period, suicide attempts were examined among the participants’ 330,000 children between the ages of 10 and 19. The study revealed that opioid use by a parent is associated with double the risk of suicide attempts by their children.

“These findings demonstrate that opioid use by a parent or parents doubles the risk for suicidal behavior by their children,” said study co-author Dr. David A. Brent. “The epidemics of adult opiate abuse and child suicidal behavior appear to be linked, and the disturbing upward trends in mortality due to opiates and due to child suicide may have common roots.”

The researchers are calling for improved diagnosis and treatment of parents who use opioids as well as mental health screening for their children. “These actions could help reverse the upward trend in deaths due to the twin epidemics of suicide and opioid overdose,” said Dr. Gibbons.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry">JAMA Psychiatry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Opioid use by parents linked to increased suicide rate for kids

In the past 15 years, opioid abuse has dramatically increased...

Women who suffer a cardiac arrest in their homes or outside of a hospital are less likely to be resuscitated successfully or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ambulance-times-low-income-areas/">receive care in time</a>, according to a new study. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uva.nl/en">University of Amsterdam</a> compared the treatment of men and women who suffered cardiac arrests in The Netherlands and found that it took longer for bystanders to call emergency services, attempt to resuscitate, and even recognize that a cardiac arrest had occurred in women compared to men. 

The findings were published in the European Heart Journal. 

When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart starts beating irregularly and fast (more than 300 beats per minute) which prevents blood flow. If caught in time, an electrocardiogram machine can detect the shockable initial rhythm before the heart stops pumping altogether, which leads to death. 

A defibrillator can shock the heart back to a normal rhythm, but only if there is a detectable initial rhythm. If the heart stops pumping the only option is chest compressions. 

Early detection and treatment are key, but the researchers found the majority of women who receive treatment for cardiac arrests have passed that initial shockable rhythm point, leading to more deaths among women. 

“We found that the worse outcome in women is largely attributable to the fact that women had about half the chance of having a shockable initial rhythm compared to men,” said Dr. Hanno Tan, the leader of the research.

For the study, the researchers reviewed and analyzed data from cardiac arrests and resuscitation attempts by emergency services in one province in The Netherlands from 2006 through 2012. 

5,717 of the reported cardiac arrests in that time occurred out-of-hospital and 28 percent involved female patients. 

Bystanders were less likely to attempt to resuscitate a woman who had collapsed, and women had a lower chance of survival after admission to a hospital. Female patients were also less likely to have a detectable initial shock rhythm by the time help arrived or being admitted to the hospital. 

The researchers found that women were half as likely to survive and be discharged from the hospital compared to men. Even correct diagnoses and treatment took longer for women compared to men. 

“Even when we adjusted our results to take account of pre-existing diseases and factors relating to the way in which resuscitation was provided by professionals, for example how long it took for the ambulance to arrive or time to defibrillation after cardiac arrest, we still found that women were half as likely as men to have shockable initial rhythm,” said Dr Tan. 

There are several reasons for why few women in the study had a shockable initial rhythm, and the researchers suggest that it could be that older women at risk of cardiac arrest are more likely to live alone or suffer an attack out of sight. 

Women also have different symptoms compared to men, which can make identifying the problem for what it is right away challenging. 

“People may be less aware that cardiac arrest can occur as often in women as in men, and the women themselves may not recognize the urgency of their symptoms,” said Dr. Tan. “Women may have symptoms of an impending heart attack that are less easy to interpret, such as fatigue, fainting, vomiting and neck or jaw pain, whereas men are more likely to report typical complaints such as chest pain.”

Raising awareness of these issues and differences is important and the researchers say it could be a life and death difference for a person suffering cardiac arrest outside of the hospital. 

“Given the short window available to save the life of the patient, every minute in this early phase counts; help, if only a call to the emergency number by a lay person, is crucial,” said Dr. Tan. “So, raising awareness through public campaigns could make a big impact on women’s survival. The fact that in-hospital treatment also seems to be different is a finding that can be acted on now and may be easier to implement.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Women are less likely to be resuscitated after cardiac arrest

Women who suffer a cardiac arrest in their homes or...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.unige.ch/en/university/">University of Geneva</a> (UNIGE) have conducted Switzerland’s first reproductive health study among men between the ages of 18 and 22. The nationwide assessment of semen quality revealed that only 38 percent of the men had semen parameter values above the standards that have been established for fertile men by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We need to be cautious about a single semen analysis,” said study co-author Dr. Alfred Senn. “It isn't entirely predictive of a person's fertility. But, in overall terms, the results suggest that the sperm quality of young men in Switzerland is in a critical state and that their future fertility will in all likelihood be affected.”

The investigation was focused on three important parameters including the number of spermatozoa, their motility, and their morphology. The findings are particularly concerning because <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/competing-mate-sperm-quality/">poor semen quality</a> has been linked to an increase in the incidence of testicular cancer in Switzerland.  

“For 35 years, testicular cancer has grown steadily to over 10 cases per 100,000 men, which is very high compared to other European countries. Sperm quality is generally lower in countries where the incidence of testicular cancer is high,” explained Professor Serge Nef. 

From 2002 to 2010, the number of Swiss couples seeking assisted reproductive technology (ART) doubled from 3,000 to more than 6,000 per year. There are many different causes of infertility in both men and women, including lifestyle factors such as alcohol and tobacco use. 

Over the past few decades, researchers have found a significant decline in semen quality across developed countries, with a notable decrease in the sperm concentration from 99 million per milliliter to 47 million per milliliter. 

“It's important to understand that the time needed to conceive increases significantly if a man has a sperm concentration below 40 million sperm per ml,” said Professor Nef. 

The UNIGE analysis was focused on the semen quality of more than 2,500 young males. The researchers found that 17 percent of the men had a sperm concentration below 15 million per milliliter and 25 percent had less than 40 percent motile spermatozoa in their ejaculate. Among nearly half of the subjects, the rate of morphologically normal forms was below four percent. 

Overall, at least one of the three parameters was below the WHO thresholds for 60 percent of the men, and five percent had a problem concerning all three factors. The UNIGE tean is now assessing the impact of environmental or lifestyle factors to find what is driving lower semen quality in Switzerland. 

“We would also like to go back to the 2,523 men who took part in the study in about 10 years so we can follow up their reproductive health and find out whether they have had children or have suffered from testicular cancer, for example,” said study first author Rita Rahban. 

"With the current trend for couples to have children later in life, the low sperm count among young men in Switzerland - combined with the declining fertility of older women - will have an impact on conception rates and future generations. This will lead to significant social and financial challenges for our society,” concluded Dr. Senn.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20472927">Andrology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sperm quality found to be surprisingly low among young Swiss men

Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have conducted Switzerland’s...

Spending more time in nature as a kid can lead to better mental health. Growing up with access to sprawling fields, parks, lakes, and forests could lead to better mental health as an adult and an appreciation for green spaces, according to new research. 

Many studies have shown that spending time outdoors in nature has many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-spending-time-in-nature-is-good-for-your-health/">physical and mental health benefits</a>, but researchers from the <a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en">Barcelona Institute for Global Health</a> (ISGlobal) wanted to examine how these benefits are influenced by time spent in natural spaces during childhood. 

The researchers were also looking to expand their assessment to include both green and blue spaces like ponds, rivers, and lakes, areas that other similar studies often overlook. 

Data from the<a href="http://www.phenotype.eu/en/"> PHENOTYPE project</a>, which included information on nearly 3,600 adults from Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and the United Kingdom, were analyzed for the recent study. 

Participants in the PHENOTYPE project were given questionnaires on how often they spent time in natural spaces during childhood and how many purposeful visits and non-purposeful visits to nature they remembered. 

Purposeful visits were defined as going hiking in parks or forests while non-purposeful visits included playing in the backyard. 

The researchers also reviewed surveys on the current use of and satisfaction with natural spaces.  

Mental health was assessed with psychological tests, and the researchers compared participant data to satellite images to see how much residential greenspace participants were in current contact with. 

The results of the analysis, published in the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health, showed that the participants who reported spending more time outdoors in natural spaces scored higher on the mental health tests and had a greater affinity for green and blue spaces as adults. 

The participants who spent less time in nature during childhood placed less importance and value on green or blue spaces. 

The results of the study highlight the vital role natural spaces plays in mental health and well-being. As people spend more time indoors, not only are we limiting exposure to green spaces, but they lose value and importance among communities who have little access to natural areas. 

“Therefore, it is important to recognize the implications of growing up in environments with limited opportunities for exposure to nature,” said Wilma Zijlema, ISGlobal researcher and the study coordinator

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Spending more time in nature as a kid can lead to better mental health

Spending more time in nature as a kid can lead...

Thousands of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-deaths-air-pollution/">deaths attributable to air pollution</a> may fall under the radar due to a proposed new method of analyzing air pollution health risks by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)</a>.

If the EPA does change its calculations, it will provide little incentive for energy companies to shift from fossil fuels, making it even easier for the Trump Administration to rollback Obama-era clean energy regulations. 

The new modeling system could predict fewer deaths, which could lead to a false assumption that current or increased levels of pollution are safer than they actually are, according to a new report from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/climate/epa-air-pollution-deaths.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">New York Times</a>. 

In reality, air pollution and fine particulate matter especially increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, lower quality of life, and cause millions of premature deaths worldwide. 

The EPA will likely announce the new analysis method as part of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which will replace the Clean Power Plan in June. 

It’s a decision that could cost more lives and place a higher burden on health care as the new plan would allow old coal plants to continue operating, emitting more pollution in the process. 

“Particulate matter is extremely harmful, and it leads to a large number of premature deaths,” Richard L. Revesz, an expert in environmental law at New York University, told the New York Times. “It could be an enormously significant impact,” Mr. Revesz said.

In reality, there are no safe levels of air pollution, and the Clean Power Plan aimed to get energy companies to shift to renewables and natural gas, reducing fossil fuel use and particulate matter pollution. 

Those critical of the Clean Power Plan argue that if air levels are “safe” as deemed by EPA guidelines, why should energy companies and businesses invest in costly alternative energy sources. 

For example, it’s been estimated that reducing particulate matter pollution could generate $30 to $40 billion. 

“How in the world can you get $30 or $40 billion of benefit to public health when most of that is attributable to reductions in areas that already meet a health-based standard,” William L. Wehrum, the EPA air quality chief, told the New York Times. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Those generated benefits would come from reduced health care costs. 

It’s important to remember that just because air particulate matter levels are set at PM 2.5 per year, it doesn’t mean that people exposed to these levels are safe from health risks. 

The EPA and the current Administration could instead be working with bipartisan researchers and policymakers to find the best possible air quality standards that lower health risks and allow for economic progress. But with this new analysis, it seems like just another way to bypass scientific studies and data in favor of easy earnings. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

EPA may alter the way it measures to limit reported pollution deaths

Thousands of deaths attributable to air pollution may fall under...

Chemicals in everyday products may be increasing the risk of obesity. According to a new study from the <a href="http://www.uns.ac.rs/index.php/en/">University of Novi Sad</a> in Serbia, exposure to common chemicals called phthalates may contribute to the development of metabolic disorders. The researchers have discovered a link between levels of phthalate exposure and markers of impaired liver function, which indicate an increased risk of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/obesity-rising-rural-areas/">obesity</a>, diabetes, and heart disease. 

Phthalates are additives that are often used in the production of plastics, with detectable traces found in everyday items including milk, bottled water, instant coffee, perfume, toys, shampoo, and food packaging. Chemicals in everyday products may be increasing the risk of obesity 

Previous studies have found that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can cause an increased risk of obesity, as well as serious damage to fertility and development. The current study is the first of its kind to investigate how phthalate exposure affects obesity and metabolism.

A team led by Professor Milica Medic-Stojanoska compared the levels of phthalate absorbed by people with their body weight, type 2 diabetes incidence, and markers of impaired liver and metabolic function. 

The study revealed that higher exposure to phthalates was associated with increased markers of liver damage, insulin resistance, and cholesterol in people with obesity and diabetes. The research indicates that more action is needed to reduce the public's exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals.

“Although a small association study, these findings suggest that not only do phthalates alter metabolism to increase the risk of obesity and diabetes but that they are also causing toxic damage to the liver,” said Professor Medic-Stojanoska.

“We need to inform people about the potential adverse effects of endocrine disruptors on their health and look at ways to minimise our contact with these harmful chemicals.”

The research will be presented at the <a href="https://www.ese-hormones.org/">European Society of Endocrinology</a> annual meeting, ECE 2019.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chemicals in everyday products may be increasing the risk of obesity

Chemicals in everyday products may be increasing the risk of...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.usc.edu/">University of Southern California</a> (USC) have found that there are roughly 20 percent fewer new asthma cases among children in the Los Angeles region as a result of improved air quality.

“This is encouraging news as it shows the number of new cases of asthma in children can be reduced through improvements in air quality,” said study co-author Professor Kiros Berhane. “This is very likely a direct result of the science-based environmental policies that have been put in place.”

The research expands on the Children's Health Study, a long-term investigation which previously found that children's lungs became stronger and rates of bronchitic symptoms decreased as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/children-develop-asthma-air-pollution/">pollution</a> declined across Los Angeles over the last two decades.

While Los Angeles remains the most polluted area of the country, the city managed to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution by 22 percent and fine particulate matter by 36 percent between 1993 and 2006.

The researchers analyzed air pollution data collected from monitoring stations in nine California communities during 1993-2001, 1996-2004, and 2006-2014. Based on data from 4,140 children, the study revealed that the nitrogen dioxide reductions led to a 20 percent lower rate of asthma, while fine particulate matter reduction led to a 19 percent lower rate of asthma.

The findings add to a growing collection of evidence that air pollution is a major contributor to the development of asthma, which is the most common chronic disease in children.

“While the findings show a clear benefit of lower air pollution levels, there must be continued efforts to reduce pollution in our region,” said study first author Erika Garcia. “We're not in a place where we can stop and say, ‘Hey, we've arrived.’”

The study is published in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama">Journal of the American Medical Association</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Air quality improvements in Los Angeles have reduced new asthma cases

Experts at the University of Southern California (USC) have found...

A new study from the <a href="https://icahn.mssm.edu/">Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai</a> indicates that cannabidiol (CBD) can make it easier for people to overcome addiction. Among individuals with a history of heroin or opioid abuse, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cannabidiol-antipsychotic-treatment/">CBD</a> reduced anxiety and cue-induced craving. 

The use of heroin and prescription opioid medications in the United States has resulted in more than 300,000 deaths over the last decade. Despite this unprecedented epidemic, however, there are limited treatment options. 

Two of the non-opioid medications that are currently available, methadone and buprenorphine, are designed to work on the same opioid receptors as heroin. However, these medications are not only potentially addictive, but are also tightly regulated by the government. This means that the treatments are unavailable to many people diagnosed with opioid use disorder.

“To address the critical need for new treatment options for the millions of people and families who are being devastated by this epidemic, we initiated a study to assess the potential of a non-intoxicating cannabinoid on craving and anxiety in heroin-addicted individuals,” said study first author Dr. Yasmin Hurd.

“The specific effects of CBD on cue-induced drug craving and anxiety are particularly important in the development of addiction therapeutics because environmental cues are one of the strongest triggers for relapse and continued drug use.”

For the study, 42 drug-abstinent men and women were randomly assigned to receive 400 mg of CBD, 800 mg of CBD, or a matching placebo. The participants were exposed to neutral and drug-related cues immediately following administration, 24 hours later, and seven days after the third and final daily CBD or placebo administration. 

Neutral cues were three-minute videos of relaxing nature scenes, while drug-related cues were videos that showed intravenous or intranasal drug use and heroin-related paraphernalia. At different times throughout the sessions, measurements of opioid craving, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and vital signs were obtained.

The study revealed that CBD significantly reduced both the craving and anxiety induced by drug cues compared with the placebo. The positive effects of CBD persisted seven days after exposure, which suggests that the benefits of CBD as a treatment are long-lasting, even when the cannabinoid would not be expected to be present in the body.

“Our findings indicate that CBD holds significant promise for treating individuals with heroin use disorder,” said Dr. Hurd. “A successful non-opioid medication would add significantly to the existing addiction medication toolbox to help reduce the growing death toll, enormous health care costs, and treatment limitations imposed by stringent government regulations amid this persistent opioid epidemic.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/">American Journal of Psychiatry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

CBD may be an effective treatment for opioid and heroin addiction

A new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at...

Many archeologists and anthropologists have framed the major human shift from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prehistoric-hunter-gatherers-farmers/">hunter-gathering to farming</a> as one symbolizing progress. 

However, researchers from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> who observed modern-day hunter-gatherers in the Philippines found that farming actually leads to less leisure time and unfairly impacts women. 

A team of anthropologists lived with and observed the Agta, a group of hunter-gatherers spending more and more time cultivating and farming in the Northern Philippines. Over two years, they documented how 359 members of the Agta split across ten communities spent their time.

The researchers made a note of how the Agta split their time between leisure, childcare, domestic chores, farming, and hunting-gathering. 

A study detailing their observations was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior. 

“For a long time, the transition from foraging to farming was assumed to represent progress, allowing people to escape an arduous and precarious way of life,” said Dr. Mark Dyble, the first author of the study. “But as soon as anthropologists started working with hunter-gatherers they began questioning this narrative, finding that foragers actually enjoy quite a lot of leisure time.”

The communities that started to spend more time farming had less leisure time than the communities that dedicated their time to hunting and gathering. Farming communities spent 30 hours working while foraging and hunting communities worked 20 hours a week on average.  

It was the women of the farming communities that were most impacted by the shift and had to spend more time working, the researchers found. 

Agta adults spent around 24 hours a week foraging, farming or hunting, while 30 hours were dedicated to leisure time, and 20 hours were spent on chores. 

In the hunter-gathering communities, women spent more time in camp, but in the communities that adopted farming, the women were expected to spend more time farming. 

“This might be because agricultural work is more easily shared between the sexes than hunting or fishing,” said Dyble. “Or there may be other reasons why men aren’t prepared or able to spend more time working out-of-camp. This needs further examination.”

The study calls into question thousands of years of progress as humans formed permanent settlements anchored by agriculture. But the researchers urge caution when comparing the Agta to prehistoric settlements because of the myriad of factors influencing modern hunter-gatherers and past societies. 

“We have to be really cautious when extrapolating from contemporary hunter-gatherers to different societies in pre-history,” said Dr. Abigail Page, a co-author of the study. “But if the first farmers really did work harder than foragers then this begs an important question - why did humans adopt agriculture?”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Mark Dyble

New study reveals that farmers have less free time than hunter-gatherers

Many archeologists and anthropologists have framed the major human shift...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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"

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

News coming your way