Starchy foods have played a pivotal role in human evolution, influencing not only our diets but also our genetic makeup. 



A recent study has revealed that the rise of agriculture - around 12,000 years ago - and the subsequent increase in starchy staples like wheat and grains, significantly impacted the human genome.



Researchers from the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom found that our ability to digest carbohydrates has significantly evolved over time. This is closely linked to the rise of agriculture and the increase of starchy foods in our diets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-evolutionary-power-of-starchy-foods">The evolutionary power of starchy foods</h2>



The ability to extract energy from starchy foods has increased remarkably during this period, as shown by an expansion in the number of genes encoding enzymes that break down starch - jumping from an average of eight to over 11.



"The copy number of amylase genes had increased in Europeans since the dawn of agriculture, but we had never been able to sequence this locus fully before. It is extremely repetitive and complex," said Peter Sudmant, assistant professor of integrative biology at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Berkeley</a>, and one of the lead authors of the study. 



This increase in amylase genes closely matched the rise and spread of agriculture across Europe from the Middle East, aligning with changes in dietary patterns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decoding-the-amylase-locus">Decoding the amylase locus</h2>



The researchers meticulously examined the genome's amylase locus, where the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) and two pancreatic amylase genes (AMY2A and AMY2B) reside. 



"If you take a piece of dry pasta and put it in your mouth, eventually it'll get a little bit sweet. That's your salivary amylase <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enzyme-produced-during-exercise-protects-against-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enzyme</a> breaking the starches down into sugars," explained Sudmant.



While this happens in all humans and other primates, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/complete-sequencing-of-the-human-genome-reveals-new-findings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human genome</a> contains a significantly higher number of amylase gene copies compared to our primate relatives, such as chimpanzees and Neanderthals, who possess only a single copy of AMY1.



UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Runyang Nicolas Lou, one of the study's co-authors, elaborated: "Our study found that each copy of the human genome harbors one to 11 copies of AMY1, zero to three copies of AMY2A, and one to four copies of AMY2B. Copy number is correlated with gene expression and protein level and thus the ability to digest starch."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-survival-advantage-and-global-adaptation">Survival advantage and global adaptation</h2>



The presence of multiple amylase genes provided a survival advantage, with the incidence of chromosomes carrying multiple copies increasing sevenfold over the last 12,000 years. 



This evolution was not confined to Europe. The researchers found evidence of similar patterns in other agricultural populations globally, regardless of which <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-of-the-future-breadfruit-is-resistant-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">starchy plant</a> was domesticated.



Erik Garrison, a co-lead author from the <a href="https://www.uthsc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Tennessee Health Science Center</a>, highlighted the broader implications of the findings: "One of the exciting things we were able to do here is probe both modern and ancient genomes to dissect the history of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/feeding-habits-shaped-the-skulls-of-humans-and-dinosaurs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">structural evolution</a> at this locus."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-dawn-of-a-new-method">The dawn of a new method</h2>



Another breakthrough in the study was the development of a new method for identifying diseases involving genes with multiple copies, like amylase. 



This method also opens doors to exploring rapidly duplicating genes related to the immune system, skin pigmentation, and mucus production. 



The research hints at a potential link between higher AMY1 copies and increased tooth decay, though further investigation is needed.



Joana Rocha, a co-author from UC Berkeley, compared the genomic structure of the amylase locus to “sculptures made of different Lego bricks." 



Long-read sequencing techniques allowed the team to reconstruct these complex genetic structures with unprecedented accuracy, shedding light on human evolutionary history and its genetic diversity.



This research, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is part of an expanding effort to better understand how genetic adaptations have shaped human health and disease through our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bronze-age-teeth-discovery-highlight-the-evolution-of-the-human-diet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changing diets</a> over millennia.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-starchy-foods-and-human-health">Starchy foods and human health</h2>



The evolutionary relationship between starchy foods and human genetics continues to shape modern health. 



As our ancestors adapted to carbohydrate-rich diets, today's populations still show varying abilities to digest starch, potentially influencing susceptibility to conditions such as obesity and diabetes. 



Understanding this genetic adaptation to starchy foods not only offers insights into our past but also provides valuable information for addressing contemporary health challenges linked to diet and metabolism.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07911-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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How starchy foods shaped human genomes

Starchy foods have played a pivotal role in human evolution, influencing not only our diets but also our genetic makeup. A recent study has revealed that the rise of agriculture - around 12,000 years ago - and the subsequent increase in starchy staples like wheat and grains, significantly impacted the human genome. Researchers from the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom found that our ability to digest carbohydrates has significantly evolved over time. This is closely linked to the rise of agriculture and the increase of...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> (OSU) are describing a possible explanation for why some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/magic-mushrooms-depression-brain/">mushrooms</a> are hallucinogenic. The experts have found that the genes responsible for the psychedelic compound psilocybin may have been adapted as a defense mechanism against fungus-eating insects.

The research team analyzed three species of magic mushrooms and compared them to three related species that do not produce the mind-altering compound. They identified a cluster of five genes that the psychedelic mushrooms have in common.

The scientists believe that the genes may have emerged as the result of a process known as horizontal gene transfer, which is the movement of genetic material between organisms that is not vertically passed from parent to offspring. 

According to the experts, horizontal gene transfer is not common in mushrooms, indicating that this transfer was likely a response to environmental stress. In this particular case, the scientists believe that an exchange of genes may have occurred due to the predominant presence of fungus-eating insects.

The researchers explained that psilocybin interferes with a neurotransmitter in both humans and insects. For example, previous studies have demonstrated that the drug inhibits a neurotransmitter in flies that causes appetite suppression.

Jason Slot is an assistant professor of Fungal Evolutionary Genomics at OSU and the study's lead author.

“We speculate that mushrooms evolved to be hallucinogenic because it lowered the chances of the fungi getting eaten by insects,” said Slot. “The psilocybin probably doesn’t just poison predators or taste bad. These mushrooms are altering the insects’ mind - if they have minds - to meet their own needs.”

The findings of this research may help in an effort that is already underway to identify the potential of psilocybin as a treatment for neurological diseases.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2056-3744">Evolution Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mushrooms may have become hallucinogenic to ward off predators

Researchers at Ohio State University (OSU) are describing a possible...

On a remote Norwegian island covered with ice, an abandoned coal mine has been converted into a massive vault to store the seeds of worldwide species so that they can be accessed in the event of a catastrophe. The security of the “doomsday" seed vault has been threatened by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-winter-sports/">climate change</a>, and Norway responded with a $13 million plan to reinforce it.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built on the island of Spitsbergen about 800 miles from the North Pole. Since it opened in 2008, the seed bank has accumulated over a million seed samples from thousands of species.

While the vault was designed to survive a disaster as destructive as nuclear war, an unprecedented Arctic warming event led to a structural failure in 2016. Historically warm temperatures caused rain to fall across the Arctic region instead of snow, and the entrance to the vault was exposed.

Hege Njaa Aschim, a representative of the Norwegian government, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/">The Guardian</a>:

“It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that. A lot of water went into the start of the tunnel and then it froze to ice, so it was like a glacier when you went in.”

The meltwater did not do any harm to the seeds, but it did cause experts to reevaluate the security of the vault. Norway has now developed a $13 million construction plan to further safeguard the seed bank.

According to <a href="https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/id627/">Norway’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food</a>, the modification of the seed vault will include “construction of a new, concrete-built access tunnel, as well as a service building to house emergency power and refrigerating units and other electrical equipment.”

On February 26, a ten-year-anniversary celebration was held at the seed vault, as representatives of international seed banks carried in 76,000 new samples for storage.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Jon Georg Dale hosted the event. 

“It is simply impressive that 1 million seed samples from all over the world have now found their way to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault,” said Dale. “It confirms the important role of the seed vault as a worldwide insurance for food supply for future generations and an ever-growing population.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change threatens security of Norway’s global seed vault

On a remote Norwegian island covered with ice, an abandoned...

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, corn has become a primary source in the creation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biofuel-compete-oil/">biofuels</a> to power cars and airplanes.

But the environmental impact and water supply needed to grow corn make it better suited to be used as a food than a biofuel resource.

But now, researchers from <a href="https://www.colostate.edu/">Colorado State University</a> have found that switchgrass may be an attractive new option for the creation of biofuel.

The study, led by John Field and published in the journal Nature Energy, showed that the carbon footprint of growing switchgrass was a fraction of the size of traditional fossil fuel sources. 

Field and his colleagues specialize in working with non-edible plants to create cellulosic biofuels. Switchgrass and other plants could serve as an excellent alternative to high impact crops like corn. 

“They don't require a lot of fertilizer or irrigation,” Field said. “Farmers don't have to plow up the field every year to plant new crops, and they're good for a decade or longer.”

For the study, the researchers analyzed an area in Kansas because the state has a cellulosic biofuel production plant. 

To examine the environmental impact and carbon footprint of switchgrass, the researchers used DayCent, a modeling system developed by Colorado State University in the 1990s. DayCent models plant growth and its response to weather and climate as well as its carbon cycle. 

Using DayCent, the research team was able to test whether switchgrass, grown for biofuel purposes, would be an effective alternative to traditional fossil fuels and have a reduced carbon footprint. 

The resulting carbon footprint of switchgrass was -11 to 10 grams of carbon dioxide per megajoule. Megajoules are commonly used to measure carbon emissions. 

To put that number in perspective, the carbon footprint of gasoline is 94 grams per megajoule. 

In addition to providing a smaller environmental impact, the researchers also found that switchgrass was effective for carbon storage. 

“What we saw with switchgrass is that you're actually storing carbon in the soil,” said John Field, the first author of the study. “You're building up organic matter and sequestering carbon.”

The results are promising, and the researchers are excited about the implications their work could have on future biofuel research. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Switchgrass may be better than corn as a biofuel source

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, corn has...

A research team led by the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> is the first to calculate how much <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/groundwater-depletion-carbon-dioxide/">carbon</a> could be accumulated in American forests if they were strengthened through reforestation efforts.

Forests in the United States store enough carbon to offset approximately ten percent of the country's annual greenhouse gas emissions, but scientists are warning that this carbon sink is becoming less effective and may level off by mid-century. 

The research team set out to determine the potential carbon sequestration of two different strategies: by planting more trees after wildfires and by allowing forests to take over some marginal croplands. The experts also investigated the ability of restorative topsoils to store carbon.

Luke Nave is an ecologist and biogeochemist at the University of Michigan and the study's lead author.

“Where reforestation is happening - either through planting of trees or through encroachment - these lands are actively adding carbon to a large pool that will continue to grow for many decades,” said Nave.

“The topsoils of reforesting lands provide a significant long-range solution to the problem of the declining carbon-sink strength of U.S. forests, and they help to mitigate climate change. Even modest increases in the amount of land being reforested would have a multiplicative impact on nationwide carbon sequestration.”

The research team investigated forestlands that have experienced major disturbances such as intense wildfires over the last few decades. They found that only about 7 percent of the forestlands available for restoration have been replanted. 

The experts also found that reforestation efforts on marginal croplands have only reached about 10 percent of their potential to expand carbon storage. The study authors said that this discovery highlights “the substantial C-sink capacity of this land-use transition if these lands are allowed to continue returning towards a natural forest condition.”

Furthermore, the study revealed that topsoils used in reforestation projects across the United States are currently storing 13 to 21 million metric tons of carbon each year, which is equivalent to about 10 percent of the country's total forest carbon sink.

According to Nave, reforesting topsoils will capture a cumulative 1.3 to 2.1 billion metric tons of carbon over the next century, accounting for nearly half of the carbon stored in all of the forest soils across the United States. This amount could be drastically increased by expanding the country's reforesting acreage, which is currently at around 200,000 square miles.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Reforestation efforts help combat greenhouse gas emissions

A research team led by the University of Michigan is...

Many plants have the ability to deter predators that might see them as a tasty snack, whether these deterrents are physical (like thorns or spines) or chemical (like a bad taste or poisonous substances). But with chemical defenses, how do these plants decide which defenses are affective enough to be worth the energy they take to produce?

A study led by Tatyana Livshultz, assistant curator of Botany at the Academy of Natural Science of <a href="http://drexel.edu/">Drexel University</a>, and published in <a href="http://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1469-8137/">New Phytologist</a> found genetic evidence that multiple lineages of plants evolved to stop producing a chemical that their ancestors had formally produced. The researchers believe the chemical was meant to deter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/herbivores-ecosystems-climate-change/">herbivores</a>, and the plants stopped producing as the primary herbivores became immune.

The team of researchers traced the evolution of a gene involved in the production of a class of chemicals that are toxic to humans and other mammals. These chemicals – called pyrrolizidine alkaloids – were found in a flowering plant family commonly known as dogbanes and milkweeds (in the family Apocynaceae). Through tracing the gene back, they were able to find when production of these chemicals first evolved, as well as how many times it was discontinued.

They were able to identify a single origin of the gene in the most recent common ancestor of over 75 percent of current Apocynaceae species. Through analysis, they found evidence that the gene became nonfunctional at least four different times among that plant’s descendants, meaning the chemical was “lost” to evolution. 

The researchers then wanted to find a correlation between the gene’s distribution in Apocynaceae plants and the animals that are unaffected by the defense alkaloids. They found that almost every species of this plant family descended from the alkaloid-producing ancestor is eaten by larvae of Danainae (milkweed and clearwing) butterflies. In fact, many of the species of butterfly in this lineage actively seek out plants with these alkaloids. Because of this, it seems that some species of Apocynaceae may have ceased production of the alkaloids because they were actually attracting butterflies, rather than repelling them.

“Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are likely an ineffective defense against Danainae,” says Livshultz. “Furthermore, they are actually beneficial to them since they take in these chemicals for their own defense against their predators.”

Their findings support the “defense de-escalation” hypothesis, which theorizes that organisms will evolve to stop using their limited resources on defense mechanisms if they’re no longer effective. In doing so, they can potentially divert resources to defenses that actually work.

“Apocynaceae species of this lineage produce a number of different classes of defensive chemicals, including cardenolides and other types of alkaloids,” Livshultz explained. “It has been shown that cardenolides are at least partially effective defenses against adapted herbivores such as the monarch butterfly, the most familiar species of Danainae to Americans.”

But this raises the question, why would any Apocynaceae species continue to produce alkaloids? “Perhaps because they suffer more from other insects that are deterred by these chemicals,” posits Livshultz – who plans on continuing this research in order to find out more about the history of this chemical defense in these plants. 

Overall, this research helps lead to a better understanding of the dynamics of defense de-escalation and co-evolution – the theory that associated species influence each other’s adaptations. Other implications of this study extend beyond plant life.

“Understanding the evolution of plant defenses is of practical importance to people, whether we focus on agriculture – herbivorous insects can cause 15 percent reductions in crop yields; medicine – plant secondary metabolites (pyrrolizidine alkaloids are one variety) are an important source of medicinal compounds; or environmental protection – such as developing control strategies for invasive plants,” explains Livshultz.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plants evolve from ineffective defenses when eaten by herbivores

Many plants have the ability to deter predators that might...

Spring is in the air, and the days are getting warmer and longer. In a few short weeks, bees and butterflies will be on the hunt for nectar to eat and pollen to spread. What better way to help them out than planting a pollinator garden?

A garden can be any size, from a window box or a couple of containers on an apartment patio to a full garden full of flowering plants. Some farmers are even including flowering native plants among their acres of crops to make sure the bees and butterflies that help grow our food have something to eat all year long.

An ideal pollinator garden will include a variety of plants that flower throughout the spring and summer, providing food for bees, butterflies, caterpillars and other insects, and possibly hummingbirds and bats.

Fortunately, planting a pollinator garden is simpler than it sounds. Read on for tips about what to plant and why.
<h3>Pick native plants</h3>
Choosing the rest of your plants will depend on where you live. That’s because different pollinators are native to different areas, and the best food sources for those pollinators are native plants.

“Native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climates, are usually the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators,” the Xerces Society, a nonprofit focused on invertebrate conservation, writes in its <a href="https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/plant-lists/">pollinator plant guides</a>. “Incorporating native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees into any landscape promotes local biological diversity by providing shelter and food for wildlife. Native plants are better adapted to regional climate cycles, do not need fertilizers, and are less likely to become weedy.”

For example, honeybees are not native to North America. They’re domesticated, and were brought to the U.S., Canada and Mexico <a href="https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/1999/November/111199OSL.html">by European settlers</a>. However, North America is home to more than 4,000 native bee species, and those species have come to rely on different species of plants, depending on where they live.

North Carolina alone has native bees from more than 500 species, including squash bees, sweat bees and carpenter bees. Squash bees – as their name implies – are a big fan of plants like pumpkin, which are native to that region. Purple coneflower, bee balm and goldenrod are all native to North Carolina and favorites among bees.

Minnesota has about 400 native bee species – or did, the last time species in the state were thoroughly surveyed <a href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mbs/grasslandbees.html">nearly 100 years ago</a>. Mining bees, sweat bees and leaf-cutters in the northern prairies, from Canada to the upper U.S. Midwest, feed on native plants like American vetch, scarlet globemallow and Rocky Mountain beeplant – of course. 

Other pollinators – butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, moths, some fly species and others – have also developed preferences. 

The coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon to British Columbia, are home to butterflies like the Oregon silverspot, Taylor’s checkerspot, Fender’s blue and Puget blue, according to the Xerces Society. In that region, bigleaf lupine is a host plant for blue butterflies, as well as a favorite snack spot for bees and hummingbirds. Douglas aster and meadow checkermallow are also attractive to pollinators in the Northwest.

In Florida, blue mistflower, east coast dune sunflower and white wild indigo make good choices. For those with room for shrubs and trees, eastern redbud and flatwoods plum can provide some early nourishment for pollinators each year. In California, redbud and McMinn manzanita are among the more permanent choices, with California poppy, California fuschia and common sunflowers also making good options. 

The internet offers a ton of resources for finding native plants that will keep your local pollinators well-fed and happy. Aside from the Xerces Society guides, the United States Department of Agriculture <a href="https://plants.usda.gov/pollinators/nrcsdocuments.html">keeps a database of pollinator plants</a>, and many U.S. states and Canadian provinces have chapters of the <a href="http://nanps.org/">North American Native Plant Society</a>.

Native plant groups can be found in several places outside of North America, such as <a href="http://anpsa.org.au/">Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/">New Zealand</a>.
<h4>Milkweed</h4>
Milkweed has two major benefits: First, despite the name, the wildflower is native to just about everywhere in the mainland United States and much of North America, meaning that it’s easy to find local species and there’s less risk of crowding out other native plants.

Second, milkweed is a vital food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars, which cannot eat anything else, and the butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed each year in the spring. The North American population of the stunning orange and black butterflies has been in decline for years for several reasons. One of those is that agricultural pesticides and development have played havoc on the traveling insects’ milkweed habitat along migration routes.

That makes milkweed an excellent choice for any pollinator garden – and not just for monarchs. Some bees and other butterfly species like it, too. 

When choosing milkweed, it’s important to get the right kind. Try to get a milkweed plant native to your area, rather than the tropical variety available throughout the U.S. The tropical variety <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/01/plan-save-monarch-butterflies-backfires">doesn’t die back in the winter</a>, encouraging monarch butterflies to stay in areas that become chilly in the winter. It also sometimes hosts a parasite that can badly weaken the butterflies.

To order native milkweed seeds, try the seed finder database maintained by the <a href="https://xerces.org/milkweed-seed-finder/">Xerces Society</a>. For other milkweed sources, check out <a href="http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/">Monarch Watch</a>, which hosts a “Milkweed Market.”
<h3>Building your pollinator garden</h3>
The National Pollinator Garden Network launched its <a href="http://millionpollinatorgardens.org/">Million Pollinator Garden Challenge</a> in 2016. The challenge will run until the network registers 1 million gardens or more, whether window boxes or full gardens. 

Why not join in and be counted? 

If you’re an experienced gardener, it’s as easy as adding some region-appropriate plants that provide pollen and nectar to your garden or yard. 

But even inexperienced gardeners can get involved. If you have room for a couple of window boxes or containers, you can grow plants for pollinators.

A few tips:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Try to grow three or four different types of plants that flower at different times of the year. This is where the Xerces Society guides can come in handy – in addition to listing plants native to an area, they also list how large the plants get and what time of year they bloom.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Avoid hybrid flowers. They often have less pollen, nectar or scent that will attract pollinators.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">If you have the space, try to provide a few host plants – plants that provide a place to lay eggs and food for caterpillars in addition to flowers for pollinators.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Try to avoid pesticides in favor of pest control methods like ladybugs, predatory mites, or other bugs that act as natural pest control. When pesticides are the only option, choose the least toxic ones that you can find that get the job done. Local nurseries, garden clubs or native plant societies are a good resource here.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Put out more than just flowers. Some pollinators also eat rotting fruit or vegetation. Tossing these items (sparingly) into your garden can provide an additional food source. Bees and butterflies also need water and salt to thrive. A <a href="https://gardentherapy.ca/bee-bath/">bee bath</a> is a great way to provide some much needed water in a pollinator garden. You can also use a drip system and a salt lick to help them get salt.</li>
</ul>
Now’s the time to start planning your pollinator garden if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Start choosing plants now to help feed the bees, butterflies and other pollinators passing through your region.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Prepare for bees and butterflies with a pollinator garden

Spring is in the air, and the days are getting...

Tropical rainforests may have more of a fighting chance combating drought from climate change than previously realized, according to a new study from the <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a>. 

The findings, published in the journal New Phytologist, provide much-needed insight into how tropical forests handle drought, especially given that tropical forests are crucial in their ability to absorb and store carbon. 

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mining-deforestation-amazon-rainforest/">Amazon Rainforest</a>, for example, stores 20 percent of all carbon in the Earth’s biomass, and habitat degradation by drought or other means could release these carbon stores and exacerbate climate change. 

For the study, the researchers collected tree branches from treetops in <a href="https://paracou.cirad.fr/">French Guiana's Paracou Research Station</a>. These branches were examined in a lab to better understand hydraulic failure and how it develops in tropical trees. 

Hydraulic failure occurs when water is scarce and a plant brings air bubbles up into the xylem as it is trying to soak up moisture through its roots. 

The air bubbles actually block moisture from reaching the leaves, which is where the process gets its name. 

At first, it appeared the researchers’ analysis showed that tropical trees are more susceptible to hydraulic failure and therefore drought than trees in temperate regions. 

However, after more experiments, the results showed that tropical trees develop a layer of “parenchyma” cells around the xylem that help store and distribute water during times when water supply is low. 

The researchers hope to continue their work in understanding the full extent of drought resistance in tropical areas. 

“Our overall goal in modeling drought resistance is to be able to predict what kind of change in rainfall would trigger death,” said Louis Santiago, a professor of Botany &amp; Plant Sciences and leader of the research. “Fortunately, our experiments so far suggest that tropical trees may be more drought resistant than previously thought, and that they use a really unique way to protect themselves.” 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Louis Santiago, UC Riverside

Tropical trees have a special capacity to resist drought

Tropical rainforests may have more of a fighting chance combating...

A study from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a> has revealed that climate warming caused the local extinction of a Rocky Mountain flowering plant. Scientists are concerned that this may be a prediction of things to come for native flowering species in mountain ecosystems.

The researchers found that warmer, drier conditions wiped out experimental populations of Northern rock jasmine, or Androsace septentrionalis. This mountain wildflower species is found in Colorado's foothills at around 6,000 feet to over 14,000 feet at the top of Mt. Elbert.

“Much of our historical data about species' population-level responses to climate change comes from observational studies, which can suggest but not confirm causation,” said lead author Anne Marie Panetta. “Here, we show the mechanisms directly at work.”


The study dates back 25 years, when researchers created experimental plots of flowers in a field site located at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. The Warming Meadow is a site where suspended infrared radiators warm plots year-round, mimicking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crops-confuse-global-warming/">global warming</a>. 

The Warming Meadow is the world's longest-running, heat-activated climate experiment. Radiators used at this site raise average soil temperatures by around 3 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat also reduces soil moisture by up to 20 percent and advances snowmelt by up to a month, allowing experts to examine the potential impacts of future climate change.

“The level of warming and the drier conditions in this experiment are not only realistic, but actually at the lower end of expectations for the next 50 to 100 years,” said Panetta. “Our estimates could be conservative. We have simulated a level of change that some systems have already seen and others will see.”

The study ultimately revealed that, in plots where the Northern rock jasmine naturally occurs, the engineered warming caused rapid declines in the number of seedlings and reproductive plants. This forced population sizes close to zero. 

The impact of the increased temperatures on multiple stages in the plant's life cycle calls attention to the growing challenge of developing effective strategies and policies to save threatened populations.


“We had thought that the plant's evolutionary adaptations might save it, or that natural seed dispersal might help it survive,” said Panetta. “But the fact that we've seen extinction happen regardless bodes poorly.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mountain wildflower species could be wiped out by rising temps

A study from the University of Colorado Boulder has revealed...

Researchers at Columbia University's <a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/">Mailman School of Public Health</a> are reporting that the legalization of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marijuana-less-damaging-alcohol/">medical marijuana</a> in the United States has not led to more recreational use of the drug by teenagers.

“For now, there appears to be no basis for the argument that legalizing medical marijuana has increased teens' use of the drug,” said senior author Dr. Deborah Hasin. 

“However, we may find that the situation changes as commercialized markets for medical marijuana develop and expand, and as states legalize recreational marijuana use.”

The investigation was based on data from 11 separate studies dating back to 1991 and from four large-scale U.S. surveys including the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The researchers examined recreational marijuana use among teenagers following new medical marijuana laws and found no significant changes.


California was the first state in the country to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes in 1996, and a total of 29 states have now approved medical marijuana. Critics of the legislation have argued that it will lead to a rise in recreational use of marijuana among adolescents.

Dr. Hasin pointed out that there is little research available on the effect that legalized medical marijuana may have among adults.


“Although we found no significant effect on adolescent marijuana use, existing evidence suggests that adult recreational use may increase after medical marijuana laws are passed.” said Dr. Hasin. 

“The $8 billion cannabis industry anticipates tripling by 2025. Obtaining a solid evidence base about harmful as well as beneficial effects of medical and recreational marijuana laws on adults is crucial given the intense economic pressures to expand cannabis markets.”

Dr. Hasin said that thorough research is also needed to determine the intensity of marijuana use in teens.

“This warrants additional consideration, especially with the decreasing national trend of risk perception among adolescents and as the current perception gives rise to more medical marijuana stores and commercial opportunities.”

The study is published online in the journal <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction">Addiction</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Legalized medical marijuana has not increased use in teens

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health are...

A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> and the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> (CAS) has developed a new theory of plant evolution. The experts propose that plants adapted their roots underground as they evolved to make themselves more efficient and independent.

As plant species spread north and south from the Tropics over the last 400 million years, they moved into regions with less nutrient-rich soils. According to the researchers, the plants began narrowing the tips of their roots and spreading them out to explore the soil for nourishment.

“These are the secret strategies that plants have used over time to take over the world,” said study co-author Lars Hedin. “Our goal was to unlock the understanding of those strategies, and our findings offer a new global theory for plant evolution. Hidden underground there has been a tremendous game of survival-of-the-fittest and we are fortunate to have the first-ever view of the science of that game.”

Hedin said that the study provides new insight into how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-first-covering-earth/">plants</a> adapt to new environments. He pointed out that past studies have been mainly focused on above-ground characteristics of plants.

“Thus far, everybody has quite naturally tried to understand how plants are organized by looking at above-ground traits,” said Hedin. “But our findings do not follow the above -ground theories - that was a surprise.”

For two years, the researcher team examined a uniquely large database of root traits consisting of 369 species from seven different biomes including: desert, grassland, Mediterranean, boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical.

The study revealed that plants in tropical and subtropical biomes had the largest diameter range of their finest root tips. This suggests that the plants rely on soil fungi which can be found abundantly in wet, warm tropical soils. The researchers referred to these types of biomes, which have soil that is consistently rich in nutrients, as being “predictable.”

Biomes considered to be “unpredictable” are characterized by infrequent precipitation, poor soil, or cold winters. The researchers found that root tips in these less predictable biomes had evolved to be significantly thinner so that the plants could more efficiently explore the soil and have less dependence on symbiotic fungi.

"Interestingly, little was known about how plant roots have evolved to facilitate success in their native habitats,” said Professor Kurt Pregitzer. “Now we know that leaves and roots have responded to different evolutionary selective pressures, and we can start building a better understanding of how root form and function drive plant success within the tremendous biological diversity we see on Earth.”

Hedin explained that the research may provide critical insights for protecting endangered species and for predicting how plants will adapt to climate change.

“This work has major implications for conservation and our stewardship of the plant world,” said Hedin. “It provides some of the hidden, below-ground rules by which plants survive and spread. It's a global view of plant evolution at a time when global rules are essential for building climate models and understanding the biosphere."

The study is published online in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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

Global plant evolution may have been due to efficient roots

A team of researchers from Princeton University and the Chinese...

For the first time, researchers have found scientific evidence to pinpoint when mankind entered into the current geological age known as the Anthropocene. A radiocarbon spike located in the heartwood of a Sitka spruce tree represents the precise time in 1965 that humans <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">changed our planet</a> forever.

Many scientists agree that we have entered into a new epoch marked by human-induced changes to the Earth, which is referred as the Anthropocene. In order for a new era to be declared, however, there has to be a clear, global signal that marks its official beginning.

The radioactive carbon spike, which was created by atmospheric thermonuclear bomb tests in the 50s and 60s, has provided experts with the proof that they have been searching for.

Study co-author Christopher Fogwill is a professor of Glaciology and Palaeoclimatology at <a href="https://www.keele.ac.uk/">Keele University</a>.

“The impact that humanity’s nuclear weapons testing has had on the Earth’s atmosphere provides a global signal that unambiguously demonstrates that humans have become the major agent of change on the planet,” said Professor Fogwill.

“This is an important, yet worrying finding. The global atomic bomb signal, captured in the annual rings of this invasive tree species, represents a line in the sand, after which our collective actions have stamped an indelible mark, which will define this new geological epoch for generations to come.”


The Sitka spruce tree, located on Campbell Island in the Southern Ocean, is over 100 years old and native to the North American Pacific Coast. It was planted on the island in 1901 by the governor of New Zealand. The spruce is referred to as the “loneliest tree in the world” because it stands over 100 miles away from the nearest tree on the Auckland Islands.

“It seems somehow apt that this extraordinary tree, planted far from its normal habitat by humans has also become a marker for the changes we have made to the planet, it is yet further evidence, if that was needed, that in this new epoch no part of our planet remains untouched by humans,” said study co-author Mark Maslin.

Professor Chris Turney from the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a> is the study's lead author.

“We were incredibly excited to find this signal in the Southern Hemisphere on a remote island, because for the first time it gave us a well defined global signature for a new geological epoch that could be preserved in the geological record,” said Professor Turney. 

“Thousands of years from now this golden spike should still stand as a detectable marker for the transformation of the Earth by humankind.”


Although evidence of the radiocarbon peak had been previously found preserved in European trees, the signal did not yet qualify as the marker of a new epoch. 

Now that the signature has also been identified in the Southern Hemisphere, it is considered an official signal because it is global, precise, and detectable in the geological record.

The study is published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

1965: The year human-induced changes to Earth officially began

For the first time, researchers have found scientific evidence to...

Until now, it had been widely believed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-protect-heat-stress/">plants</a> first colonized the planet 420 million years ago, creating lush, green spaces across the continents that would later become suitable habitats for land animals.

But now, new research has found that plants actually spread across the Earth 100 million years earlier, calling into question our knowledge of early Earth and the evolution of its biosphere. 

Previous theories of plants first appearing on land came from studies of the oldest plant fossils, which dated back 420 million years. 

However, researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a>,<a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/"> Cardiff University,</a> and the <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> used molecular clock dating methods to find that these fossils are not proof of the first on Earth. 

“The fossil record is too sparse and incomplete to be a reliable guide to date the origin of land plants,” said Mark Puttick, a lead author of the study. “Instead of relying on the fossil record alone, we used a 'molecular clock' approach to compare differences in the make-up of genes of living species - these relative genetic differences were then converted into ages by using the fossil ages as a loose framework.”

Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Molecular clock methodology combines evidence on the genetic differences between both fossils and living species. 

By examining the genetic data, the researchers were able to pinpoint an evolutionary timeline based on shared ancestors of fossils and living plant species today. 

The researchers also examined atmospheric data to understand how early plant species shaped the Earth’s climate.

“Previous attempts to model these changes in the atmosphere have accepted the plant fossil record at face value - our research shows that these fossil ages underestimate the origins of land plants, and so these models need to be revised,” said Jennifer Morris, a lead co-author of the study. 

Taking all these factors into consideration, the more accurate estimate shows that plants likely first colonized Earth 520 million years ago.

The research team made sure to test if different relationships between early land plants changed their origin timeline.

"We used different assumptions on the relationships between land plants and found this did not impact the age of the earliest land plants,” said  Philip Donoghue and Harald Schneider, leaders of the research.

“Any future attempts to model atmospheric changes in deep-time must incorporate the full range of uncertainties we have used here.”

The results show that land plants likely formed on Earth much earlier than previously thought and sheds new insight into Earth’s early climate and biosphere. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plants first began covering the Earth 520 million years ago

Until now, it had been widely believed that plants first...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features 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

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

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

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

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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

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