A team of scientists has recreated the face of an ancient human ancestor that might offer a fresh glimpse of our distant past. This reconstructed visage of "Dragon Man" is linked to a group of early humans called the Denisovans, who roamed parts of Asia for thousands of years. 



Researchers believe these individuals may have handed down bits of genetic material that shaped the course of modern human evolution by helping our ancestors to adjust to different landscapes and climates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragon-man-and-the-denisovans">Dragon Man and the Denisovans</h2>



<a href="https://gurche.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Gurche</a>, working with National Geographic, is the paleoartist behind this striking portrait. Denisovans are known mainly from a sparse record of fossils and DNA first extracted in 2010 from a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0455-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">finger bone</a> in Siberia.



Scientists say these ancient humans lived between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/115000-year-old-human-footprints-found-alathar-lake-arabian-peninsula/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">200,000 and 25,000 years ago</a>, crossed paths with Homo sapiens, and left us with genetic traces seen today in populations across Southeast Asia and Oceania. 



Neanderthals and these early humans are our closest extinct relatives, and they likely contributed to our ability to move into and adapt to new areas of the globe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-harbin-skull-matters">Why the Harbin skull matters</h2>



A laborer in northeastern China uncovered a remarkably complete fossil many years ago, which became known as the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/stunning-dragon-man-skull-may-be-elusive-denisovan-or-new-species-human" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harbin skull</a>. 



Some experts suspect it could have belonged to a Denisovan because it bears certain resemblances to a 160,000-year-old <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/science/denisovans-tibet-jawbone-dna.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">jawbone</a> that was discovered on the Tibetan Plateau.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-photo_credit-CAS_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-photo_credit-CAS_1s.webp" alt="The Harbin Skull is the cranium of a Denisovan nicknamed Dragon Man. Credit: CAS" class="wp-image-1957356"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Harbin Skull is the cranium of a Denisovan nicknamed Dragon Man. Credit: CAS</figcaption></figure>



That jawbone, found in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/denisovan-jawbone-roof-world/588442/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Xiahe Cave</a>, could not be used to extract DNA evidence, but researchers used a method called paleoproteomics to determine its lineage.



Because the Harbin fossil dates back roughly 150,000 years and was located in the same broad region where Denisovans once roamed, many scientists think it may be the most complete example of these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-tools-ever-made-on-earth-hominins-3-million-years-ago-cradle-of-humankind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elusive people</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clues-from-denisovan-s-face">Clues from Denisovan's face</h2>



Gurche built his <a href="https://youtu.be/eatqu7hWw5g?si=1Nav7LXrwy-Z98qU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">model</a> by starting with a plastic replica of the Harbin skull, which he studied to gauge features like overall jaw breadth and prominent brow.&nbsp;



His aim was “To get as close as I could to looking into the eyes of these extinct species,” he told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/other-human-species-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Geographic</a>. He estimated eye size by referencing the ratio of eyeball diameter to eye socket size that African apes and modern humans share, then used markings on the fossil to place chewing muscles in the right spots.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragon-man-s-head-and-nose-shape">Dragon Man's head and nose shape</h2>



Studying the bone structure gave Gurche clues about the nose’s width and protrusion. 



Scientists often rely on similar methods for ancient reconstructions, since cartilage does not survive in fossils. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_human-ancestor_illustration_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_human-ancestor_illustration_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1s.webp" alt="Illustration of a Denisovan named Dragon Man in his natural habitat. His large head could be an adaptation to the harsh environment in which he likely lived. Chuang Zhao" class="wp-image-1957360"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Illustration of a Denisovan named Dragon Man in his natural habitat. His large head could be an adaptation to the harsh environment in which he likely lived. Chuang Zhao</figcaption></figure>



Their logic stems from comparing multiple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-wooden-structure-completely-rewrites-early-human-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hominin species</a> and applying standard patterns of human and ape anatomy. 



By layering muscle over the replicated skull, Gurche produced a model with a wide mouth, a robust brow, and a braincase in the ballpark of a modern human’s - traits that underscore both our shared lineage and the intriguing diversity of this lost group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evidence-of-travel-and-interbreeding">Evidence of travel and interbreeding</h2>



Denisovans likely ventured far, with fossils and DNA traces turning up from Siberia to Southeast Asia. 



Some experts point to strong signs that they interbred with Homo sapiens, possibly boosting our ancestors’ ability to cope with unfamiliar altitudes and diseases.



The story goes that our forebears met these other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stone-tool-flint-discovery-challenges-theory-of-human-cultural-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">humans</a>, passed along genes that improved survival, and then forged onward to inhabit new territories. 



However, we still do not know why Denisovans themselves vanished, or how they managed to cover such large distances in eras when travel was slow and difficult.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-dragon-man-and-denisovans">Next steps for Dragon Man and Denisovans</h2>



Experts say that solving the mystery of how these people journeyed across thousands of miles - and figuring out why they vanished - requires more fossils. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-recreation_portrait_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-recreation_portrait_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1s.webp" alt="Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin named Denisovans. Credit: Chuang Zhao/CAS" class="wp-image-1957358"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin named Denisovans. Credit: Chuang Zhao/CAS</figcaption></figure>



Compared to Neanderthals, Denisovan remains are exceptionally scarce, which is why the Harbin skull’s possible Denisovan link has excited many anthropologists. 



Any additional finds, such as teeth or skull fragments, can help refine our picture of these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/homo-juluensis-new-human-species-vanished-just-fifty-thousand-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ancient relatives</a> and fill in details about their environment, social behavior, and diet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-glimpse-into-the-past">A glimpse into the past</h2>



In February 2025, National Geographic featured Gurche’s Denisovan model, marking a milestone in our understanding of who these people were. Some see this lifelike creation as a vital leap for anyone curious about human origins.&nbsp;



The crossbreeding evidence, the scattered remains, and now this reconstructed face provide a chance to reflect on how many human groups once shared our planet. 



The Denisovans’ disappearance still mystifies scientists, but every new bit of data reveals more about their place in our lineage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-dragon-man-and-denisovans">Understanding Dragon Man and Denisovans</h2>



While we might never get every answer about the Denisovans, the puzzle pieces we do have hint at a world filled with varied human populations. 



Each group may have contributed to the genetic tapestry that makes our species what it is today. 



The Harbin skull’s similarities to that jawbone in Xiahe Cave underscore how a single fossil find can reshape our thinking on early humans. 



As more studies zero in on these and other artifacts, a fuller narrative of the Denisovans’ story may surface - one that reminds us of our interwoven past.



A version of this story will appear in the February 2025 issue of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/other-human-species-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Geographic magazine</a>.



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Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin

A team of scientists has recreated the face of an ancient human ancestor that might offer a fresh glimpse of our distant past. This reconstructed visage of "Dragon Man" is linked to a group of early humans called the Denisovans, who roamed parts of Asia for thousands of years.  Researchers believe these individuals may have handed down bits of genetic material that shaped the course of modern human evolution by helping our ancestors to adjust to different landscapes and climates. Dragon Man and the Denisovans John Gurche,...

New research published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/rsh">Public Health Perspectives</a> has revealed even more evidence of the potential health benefits associated with reducing air pollution. Previous studies showed that areas with higher pre-pandemic levels of air pollution also show higher levels of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/thousands-of-tons-of-covid-related-plastic-could-end-up-in-the-ocean/">COVID-19</a> infection rates, but the cause was unknown. 



“The problem is that previous studies were based on reported cases, which had been diagnosed, but missed all the asymptomatic or undiagnosed cases,” said study first author Manolis Kogevinas, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en">Barcelona Institute for Global Health</a> (ISGlobal).



The experts measured virus-specific antibodies in a group of adults living in Catalonia and combined this with data about their exposure to air pollution.&nbsp;



“This is the first study to perform mass screening of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies in an adult cohort to examine the association between their residential exposure to air pollution before the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and disease,” explained co-senior author Cathryn Tonne.



Of the 9,605 people who participated in the study, blood samples were taken from over 4,000 participants. Virus-specific antibodies were confirmed in 18 percent of these individuals.&nbsp;



Among those who were infected, there was no correlation with exposure to air pollution. However, a positive correlation was shown between exposure to pollution and severe symptoms.&nbsp;



“Our study provides the strongest evidence globally on the association of ambient air pollution and COVID-19," said Kogevinas.



"These results are in line with the association between air pollution and hospitalization described for other respiratory diseases such as influenza or pneumonia."



Air pollution could also contribute by favouring the development of cardiovascular, respiratory or other chronic conditions, which in turn increase the risk of severe COVID-19.



The scientists hope that this work combined with other research will help increase our understanding of COVID-19,&nbsp; and especially severe cases.&nbsp;



“The combination of individual genetic risks that we have previously identified in COVICAT individuals and this new data on environmental impact caused by air pollution exposure will contribute to understanding the complex interplay and mechanisms underlying the severity of COVID-19," said Rafael de Cid of the IGTP.



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

Air pollution can increase the severity of COVID-19 infection

New research published in the journal Public Health Perspectives has...

Abstract,Ocean,Design,Template,With,Underwater,Part,And,Sunset,Skylight

Many different habitats, from sandy beaches and rocky shores, to the darkest of abyssal plains make up the oceans. Healthy and clean oceans benefit thousands of different living species as well as all of humanity. However, these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coastal-ecosystems-are-disrupted-by-small-temperature-changes/">ecosystems</a> and natural processes operating in oceans have become more and more threatened in the face of increasing industrialization and human population size.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development</a> was launched in January 2021, and will span the years 2021–2030. This “Ocean Decade” is an opportunity for ocean actors across the world to come together to generate knowledge and foster the partnerships needed to support a well-functioning, productive, resilient, sustainable, and inspiring ocean.



Today, a group of nine distinguished international experts, appointed to help the UN reach the goal of a clean ocean by 2030, will come together for the start of a three-day online conference. The Clean Ocean International Expert Group will present its manifesto, which includes lists of medium- and longer-term goals to be achieved in order to clean up the world’s oceans. In addition, they will outline strategies to reach these goals.&nbsp;



Co-Chaired by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelika_Brandt">Angelika Brandt</a>&nbsp;of Germany, a Southern Ocean / Antarctica biodiversity expert, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.icmyl.unam.mx/es/quienes_somos/personal_academico/elva-escobar-briones">Elva Escobar Briones</a>&nbsp;of Mexico, a deep sea biodiversity expert, the group’s manifesto concisely outlines "the challenges and some of the opportunities that the Ocean Decade can provide for a Clean Ocean.”



The Clean Ocean International Expert Group will begin their conference by presenting this manifesto, that lays out their goals for a clean ocean by 2030. With these objectives in place, specific pragmatic steps can be identified and efforts activated, with targets and timetables that map out progress.&nbsp;



The manifesto outlines the most direct route to a clean ocean in 2030, giving the following specific goals that should be achieved by that time.



Goals for a Clean Ocean in 2030:



<ul><li>Enlarge understanding of pathways for the spread and fates of pollutants.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Reduce and remove top-priority forms of pollution (e.g., marine debris) by large amounts, as much as 50 to 90 percent.</li><li>Prevent recurrence, reduce sources or emission of pollutants (e.g., anthropogenic noise, discarded plastic and harmful chemicals, farming practices adding harmful sediment outflow).</li><li>Improve dramatically the outcomes of control measures (e.g., to decrease amounts of mercury in tuna, die-offs of marine life, eutrophication).</li><li>Improve monitoring (often as part of the Global Ocean Observing System [GOOS]) for more accurate, precise, timely, comprehensive real-time tracing of spills and monitoring of ocean soundscapes; improve systems to provide timely warning of pollutants emerging and increasing.</li><li>Identify and accelerate development and adoption of technologies to promote a Clean Ocean. These could range from cleaner, more efficient motors and fuels to new forms of remediation and waste management; better ways to monitor, track, and map marine pollutants and progress toward a clean ocean (such as aerial remote sensing, genomics, and hydrophone arrays); and better technologies for emergency clean-ups.</li><li>Improve national mechanisms (legal, regulatory) for control and prevention, better align financial incentives, and lift compliance with international treaties.</li><li>Lift public engagement and understanding with access to information associated with behavioral shifts favoring the motto of “reduce, reuse and recycle”, and encourage participation in citizen science as part of events involving sailing, surfing, and other activities dependent on a Clean Ocean.</li></ul>



 The experts also set some more specific targets that should be reached by 2025, in order to facilitate the achievement of the ultimate goals for a Clean Ocean by 2030. They stated: "This process should aim to define and attract financial and other support to meet an initial set of goals for 2025, followed by goals for the end of the Ocean Decade in 2030.” Interim objectives for 2025



<ul><li>Quantify the global harm of marine pollution, from all major sources, on ecosystems and organisms and on human health; assessment methods need to take into account multiple stressors.</li><li>Survey the totality of anthropogenic chemicals flowing into the oceans.</li><li>Define a Clean Ocean, including acceptable levels of pollution to set threshold values, and define ecological boundaries or maximal levels of pollutants as well as their rates of degradation to maintain well-functioning ecosystems; this includes understanding tolerances of species and ecosystems to pollutants.</li><li>Develop a widely shared vision of a Clean Ocean.</li><li>Identify high-priority geographic challenges such as polar regions and urban coasts.</li><li>Identify barriers to action impeding scaling up solutions for regional and global impact; quantify possibilities for amelioration.</li><li>Identify key partners, including those who might be left behind, and provide engagement strategies for early career ocean professionals, indigenous peoples, and island communities.</li><li>Develop reference scenarios for industrialization of the oceans during the next decade, including tourism, seabed mining, windfarm development, for example, as they relate to a Clean Ocean.</li><li>Develop initial estimates of costs associated with transitions to a Clean Ocean.</li><li>Secure major financial commitments.</li></ul>



“By 2030 we want to achieve measurable improvement in monitoring and clear reduction of emissions and harm through a spectrum of technical and behavioral strategies,” said the researchers.



The three-day on-line conference (Nov. 17–19, 2021) will highlight more than 30 activities already in place or in development around the world that can make important contributions to a Clean Ocean by 2030. These include initiatives to:



<ul><li>successfully and consistently monitor marine debris from space as part of an Integrated Global Marine Debris Observing System;</li><li>operate deep sea observatories in the Atlantic that document and publicize multiple stressors;</li><li>observe the vast Southern Ocean to give early warnings of possible pollution hot spots in this relatively pristine ocean;</li><li>instrument 30 percent of coastal city ocean spaces to report on pollution changes, including restoration;</li><li>and identify and greatly reduce persistent organic pollutants globally.</li></ul>



The manifesto, which represents the views of the signatories, and not necessarily the official positions of their respective institutions, is also directed at other groups such as the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the Economist magazine World Ocean Initiative, and the World Ocean Council. 



The group will share its manifesto with these groups, as well as with other expert groups, national committees, and with the&nbsp; endorsed projects and programs of the UN Ocean Decade in order to speed along the development of a strong set of Clean Ocean activities. Study lead author&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_H._Ausubel">Jesse Ausubel</a> is Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University, New York City. “We want this decade to transition from increasing to decreasing the environmental problems of the oceans,” said Ausubel.



Further details of the conference may be found at: <a href="https://www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/a-clean-ocean.html">https://www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/a-clean-ocean.html</a>



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

Steps needed to achieve a clean ocean by 2030

Many different habitats, from sandy beaches and rocky shores, to...

A new study published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2021.0672">Journal of the Royal Society Interface</a> has found that finger snapping produces the highest rotational accelerations observed in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-drove-woolly-mammoths-to-extinction/">humans</a>, even faster than the arm of a professional baseball pitcher. These findings could be potentially used in the future to devise prosthetics imitating the wide-ranging capabilities of the human hand.



“For the past few years, I’ve been fascinated with how we can snap our fingers,” said co-author Saad Bhamla, a professor in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chbe.gatech.edu/">School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering</a> at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “It’s really an extraordinary physics puzzle right at our fingertips that hasn’t been investigated closely.”



By using high-speed imaging, automated image processing, and dynamic force sensors, researchers analyzed a variety of finger snaps, and explored the role friction plays in finger snapping by covering fingers with different materials, including metallic thimbles.&nbsp;



The scientists measured maximal rotational velocities of 7,800 degrees per second and rotational accelerations of 1.6 million degrees per second squared for an ordinary snap with bare fingers. While the rotational velocity is slower than that of a baseball player during pitching, the snap acceleration is three times faster than that of a pitcher.



“When I first saw the data, I jumped out of my chair,” said Bhamla. “The finger snap occurs in only seven milliseconds, more than twenty times faster than the blink of an eye, which takes more than 150 milliseconds.”



When covering the fingers with metal thimbles, the rotational velocities decreased dramatically due to the diminished contact area between thimble-covered fingers. “The compression of the skin makes the system a little bit more fault tolerant,” explained co-author Elio Challita, a doctoral student at <a href="https://www.chbe.gatech.edu/">Georgia Tech</a>. “Reducing both the compressibility and friction of the skin make it a lot harder to build up enough force in your fingers to actually snap.”



Surprisingly, increasing the friction of the fingertips with rubber coverings also reduced velocity and acceleration. Thus, either too little or too much friction can decrease snap speed and acceleration.



This study is an important step forward in understanding the motion principles operating in other living organism and in designing more life-like robots.



“Based on ancient Greek art from 300 B.C., humans may very well have been snapping their fingers for hundreds of thousands of years before that, yet we are only now beginning to scientifically study it,” Bhamla said. “This is the only scientific project in my lab in which we could snap our fingers and get data.”



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

Finger snapping is the fastest thing we can do

A new study published in the Journal of the Royal...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www5.usp.br/english/institutional/">University of São Paulo</a> (USP) in Brazil has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-household-sounds-trigger-anxiety-in-dogs/">dogs</a> communicate with humans in ways that are dependent upon their particular life experiences. Thus, dogs living inside homes tend to exchange more gazes with their caregivers than dogs living outside or in shelters.



“Dogs are particularly skillful in communicating with humans, and growing evidence points towards the importance of both species intertwined evolutionary history and intense daily partnership,” wrote the study authors.



One of the communication behaviors used by dogs is gaze alternation, which can be defined as first staring at humans to get their attention, then flicking the eyes to where an unattainable and desired object is located, and then gazing back at the humans.



The scientists compared 60 pet dogs of various ages and breeds and found that 95.7 percent of those living inside homes used gaze alternation at least once, while only 80 percent of those living outside homes used it. In the case of shelter dogs, only 58.8 percent used this communication strategy.



“The findings point to strong influence of life experience on development and use of communicative behavior. Dogs that spent longer time near people were more disposed to use communication as a strategy to obtain a desired objective,” said study lead author&nbsp;Juliana Wallner Werneck Mendes, who conducted the experiment at the Canine Laboratory at USP during her master’s research.&nbsp;



“Another important aspect we observed was that all groups communicated,” she added. “Shelter dogs used to be considered unable to communicate with humans. In fact, they do, but less so. This shows that the experiences of a lifetime result in different kinds of behavior.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Mendes and her colleagues, the low level of interaction characterizing shelter dogs should not be interpreted as incapacity. On the contrary, they seem quite capable of communicating, even with little exposure to humans, but they don’t need to do it for much of their lives.



These findings shed more light on the relationship between nature and nurture in canine development and behavior. “Canine behavior is largely inherited, of course, and they were domesticated a very long time ago, but this aspect should never be abstracted from the context in which they live. Nurture and the environment are also very important,” Mendes concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635721001716?via%3Dihub">Behavioural Processes</a>.



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

Life experience shapes the way dogs communicate with humans

A new study led by the University of São Paulo...

According to Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s new <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/global-commitment/overview">Global Commitment Progress Report</a>, the global use of “virgin plastic” (plastic resin that is newly created without any <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/most-plastic-bottles-are-recycled-into-clothes/">recycled</a> materials) has peaked and is expected to fall significantly by 2025, due to the rise in recycled packaging.



The Ellen Macarthur Foundation is a UK-based charity that promotes a focus on “circular economy,” where material resources such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabirds-are-damaging-their-health-by-eating-plastic/">plastic</a> are recycled and kept in use for as long as possible. According to the Foundation’s most recent report, committed brands and retailers all over the globe, including Nestlé,&nbsp;PepsiCo, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mars, and L'Oréal, have reduced their collective virgin plastic by 1.2 percent between 2019 and 2020, following a 0.6 percent reduction between 2019 and 2019.&nbsp;



“If you put it in a historical perspective, virgin plastic use for this industry has been going up quite rapidly for decades,” said Sander Defruyt, the leader of the Foundation’s <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/the-new-plastics-economy-rethinking-the-future-of-plastics">New Plastics Economy</a> initiative.&nbsp;



“Some of the largest brands and retailers in the world are showing [that virgin plastic reduction] can be done and that business growth can be decoupled from virgin plastic use.”



Progress on virgin plastic reduction has been driven by the growing use of recycled content in packaging. However, since discarded packaging still exists, this change is not yet enough to solve plastic pollution. Moreover, less than two percent of Global Commitment signatories’ plastic packaging is reusable, and over half of the signatories reported zero percent reusable plastic packaging.



While a company such as Unilever, for example, increased recycled content by 11 percent in 2020 and is on the track to reach its 25 percent target by 2025, other retailers such as Mars reported no recycled plastic packaging in 2020, despite a target of 30 percent reduction by 2025.



One of the current leaders in virgin plastic reduction is Coca Cola, which had 11.5 percent recycled content in 2020, up from four percent in 2019 and two percent in 2018.



“We appreciate the leadership of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in driving more consistent goal-setting and reporting on circular economy,” said a Coca Cola spokesperson.&nbsp;



“While we are proud of the progress we have made since we launched the World Without Waste program in 2018, there is more work we can do, and we look forward to engaging with outside stakeholders to take our work to the next level.”



The Ellen Macarthur Foundation hopes that if other large retailers will follow, an overall decrease of virgin plastic use by 19 percent could be expected by 2025.&nbsp;



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

Virgin plastic use may decrease significantly by 2025

According to Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s new Global Commitment Progress Report,...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15231739">Conservation Biology</a> suggests that conservation efforts in Central Africa might be more successful with a focus on smaller land areas.



The research counted populations of several species in seven savana national parks in central Africa. The study showed that broader geographic boundaries often end with smaller wildlife populations. This is possibly because larger lands are harder to manage effectively.&nbsp;



“In a lot of Africa, there has been a lot of space set aside for wildlife," said study co-author Professor Mark Mortiz of Ohio State University. "And what we’ve found is setting aside so much land is not sufficient in and of itself, and a lot of these protected areas are protected on paper only.”



The research shows that, in order to sufficiently protect wildlife, much more funding is necessary. The study was carried out across four countries in Central Africa, where 25 percent of the land was set aside for conservation.&nbsp;



Study lead author Paul Scholte is a visiting professor at ERAIFT-UNESCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.



“The governments in these countries are overstretched, trying to do more than they are able to do," said Professor Scholte. "And the reality is that increasing the areas under conservation, in central Africa, is pushing countries to take on more than they can take on, when the international community has not given them the resources necessary to align with the realities on the ground.”



Tourism has traditionally brought in a lot of renewable funding for land conservation in Africa but with the COVID-19 pandemic, this funding has largely dried up. Unfortunately, the international community hasn’t stepped up to supplement this loss.&nbsp;



The research showed that in six of the seven national parks surveyed, elephants, giraffes, buffalo and ten species of antelope have declined in population. Even as large amounts of land were set for conservation, cattle numbers increased as herders used the land for grazing. Unfortunately, remedying the situation would be extremely costly.&nbsp;



“We are not talking twice or triple the funding to be effective; it would require 10, 15 or even 20 times more funding annually to these parks’ budgets," said Professor Scholte.



"It’s enormous, and we all know it’s not realistic. So, we are saying that we should realize that, acknowledge it, and concentrate these scarce resources on areas that are viable and could have a greater effect.”



---



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

Conservation efforts are not protecting Central Africa’s wildlife

A new study published in the journal Conservation Biology suggests...

The Sahel region, extending south of the Sahara desert from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east of Africa, used to be a fertile region in the past, but is now largely uncultivated due to increased <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/droughts-can-protect-vineyards-from-deadly-disease/">droughts</a>, poor agricultural methods, and overuse. The <a href="https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall">Great Green Wall</a> initiative aims to compensate for and reverse this loss by mass planting 100 million hectares of land. According to a new study, implementing this project could bring significant economic benefits.



The Great Green Wall program was initiated in 2007 in order to restore degraded ecosystems across 11 countries in the Sahel region. Until now, this highly ambitious project is far from being achieved, due to lack of financial resources. However, earlier this year, several donor countries have pledged nearly $15 billion to this project at the <a href="https://www.unccd.int/news-events/one-planet-summit-biodiversity">One Planet Summit for Biodiversity</a>.&nbsp;



"In order to use these funds efficiently, we now have to ask ourselves where and for which measures they should be used most sensibly," said study lead author Dr. Alisher Mirzabaev, a senior researcher at the<a href="https://www.zef.de/zefhome.html"> Center for Development Research</a> (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.



By dividing the Sahel region into 40 million plots of 25 hectares each, Dr. Mirzabaev and his colleagues analyzed which restoration measures were possible and how much they would cost, and compared the results with the possible economic benefits that could be achieved.



"On the one hand, these include the so-called provisioning services," explained Mirzabaev. "These are the things that are produced by the ecosystems: Food and drinking water, raw materials such as wood or medicinal plants." Other benefits include a better climate, less wind erosion, and pollinator services.



According to the scientists, reforestation would be the most advantageous method, both ecologically and economically. However, since growing seedlings into trees takes decades, such investment would be fruitful only in the long term. In the short-term, a better option is to convert degraded areas into farmland, which would pay for itself rather quickly, although the profits will be lower.&nbsp;



“In our analysis, we work with different scenarios, some of which are aimed more at short-term benefits, while others are more long-term," said Mirzabaev. The baseline scenario, including both short- and long-term benefits, would yield an average net return of 20 cents for each dollar spent.



However, a significant problem with implementing such initiatives are the violent conflicts affecting many of the targeted areas. "This shows how much such disputes not only cause direct human suffering, but also prevent positive development of the affected regions," concluded Mirzabaev.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00801-8">Nature Sustainability</a>.



---



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

Africa’s Great Green Wall is economically worthwhile

The Sahel region, extending south of the Sahara desert from...

According to a new study published in the journal PloS Medicine, drinking coffee or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-tea-and-coffee-lower-the-risk-of-fatal-cardiovascular-events/">tea</a> may reduce the risk of stroke and <a href="http://archive">dementia</a>. Drinking coffee was also associated with a lower risk of developing poststroke dementia.



Stroke and dementia are widespread health hazards, bringing a heavy economic and social burden worldwide. Stroke is causing over 10 percent of global annual deaths, and it sometimes triggers dementia in its survivors.&nbsp;



“Previous studies have revealed the involvement of coffee and tea in the development of stroke and dementia. However, little is known about the association between the combination of coffee and tea and the risk of stroke, dementia, and poststroke dementia. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations of coffee and tea separately and in combination with the risk of developing stroke and dementia,” wrote the study authors.



By studying 365,682 participants from the <a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/">UK Biobank</a> (with ages ranging from 50 to 74), who were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed until 2020, scientists from <a href="http://www.tmu.edu.cn/_t101/98/list.htm">Tianjin Medical University</a> in China have found that drinking coffee and tea could have highly beneficial health effects.&nbsp;



Participants who drank 2-3 cups of coffee or 3-5 cups of tea per day, or a combination of 4-6 cups of coffee and tea had the lowest incidence of dementia or stroke. Those who drank 2-3 cups of coffee and 2-3 cups of tea each day had a 32 percent lower risk of stroke and a 28 percent lower risk of dementia compared to those who didn’t consume such beverages. Moreover, drinking coffee alone or in combination with tea appeared to significantly reduce the risk of poststroke dementia.



However, since the UK Biobank reflects a relatively healthy sample compared to the general population, there might be problems in generalizing these findings. Also, since quite few people developed stroke (10,053) or dementia (5,079) in the studied cohort, it may be difficult to extrapolate accurate rates to larger populations. 



Finally, while it could be inferred that coffee and tea protect against stroke, dementia, and poststroke dementia, a clear causal connection has not been found yet. Further research is needed to comprehensively assess these beverages’ effects of physical and mental health.&nbsp;



---



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

Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of stroke and dementia

According to a new study published in the journal PloS...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL095533">Geophysical Research Letters</a> has confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps which could potentially contain solid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-carbon-dioxide-sink/">carbon dioxide</a>. This discovery will clearly have a major influence on future lunar missions, increasing the feasibility of human or robotic sustained presence on the moon.



In the permanently shadowed lunar poles, temperatures fall below those in the coldest areas of Pluto, thus allowing for the formation of carbon dioxide cold traps, where the carbon dioxide molecules freeze and remain in this form even during summer.



Although these traps have been predicted by planetary scientists for years, this study is the first to firmly establish and map their presence on the moon. By analyzing 11 years of temperature data from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/diviner-lunar-radiometer-experiment-dlre">Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment</a>, the researchers mapped 204 square kilometers of carbon dioxide traps, with the largest area (82 square km) located in the Amundsen Crater. In these regions, temperatures remain below 352 degrees Fahrenheit.



“I think when I started this, the question was, ‘Can we confidently say there are carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon or not?’” said study lead author Norbert Schörghofer, a scientist at the <a href="https://www.psi.edu/">Planetary Science Institute</a>. “My surprise was that they're actually,&nbsp;definitely there. It could have been that we can't establish their existence, [they might have been] one pixel on a map... so I think the surprise was that we really found contiguous regions which are cold enough, beyond doubt."&nbsp;



The existence of carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon will have significant implications for future lunar missions. These resources could be used in the production of steel, rocket fuel, and biomaterials, and they could offer new insights on how organic compounds form and what types of molecules can be produced in harsh environments such as the lunar one. Moreover, they could also help scientists understand the origins of water and other volatiles in the Earth-moon system.



“These should be high-priority sites to target for future landed missions,” said Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist at the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado, Boulder</a>. “This sort of pinpoints where you might go on the lunar surface to answer some of these big questions about volatiles on the moon and their delivery from elsewhere in the solar system.”



---



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

Carbon dioxide cold traps found on the moon

A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters...

Measurements of climatic parameters, such as temperature, often show ups and downs and it is difficult to tell if these variations mark significant climate changes or whether they reflect normal ‘noise’ in the system. A team of statisticians has now developed a method to test whether abrupt changes in climate data from the past reflect times when environmental tipping points have been reached.



The researchers from CNRS (France), UCLA, and Columbia University used an augmented Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test that has been successfully applied to data from other, inherently noisy systems, such as finance and signal processing.



The method compares two samples taken before and after the potential transition point to test whether they come from the same continuous distribution. If not, the transition point is identified as a significant, abrupt change that is indicative of a true climatic shift.



They used data about changes in the ratios of two isotopes of oxygen (oxygen-16 and oxygen-18) from Greenland ice cores, as well as data from mineral isotopes found in speleothems (cave mineral deposits such as stalactites and stalagmites). Since the proportion of oxygen-16 and oxygen-18 in ice change depending on temperature, the scientists were able to map the changes in the ice cores to changes in climate. In a similar way, changes in mineral isotopes in speleothems also reflect changes in temperature.



In the past, such matching was done by visual inspection, which could be very time-consuming, and tended to be subjective. The statistical method used in the case of this study is less prone to errors and does not rely on human judgement to decide whether a jump in the recorded parameter (for example, oxygen isotope proportions) marks a significant climatic transition or not.&nbsp;



"We applied our method to two paleoclimate records of the last climate cycle, a Greenland ice core and a speleothem composite record from China," said author Witold Bagniewski.



The researchers found that the statistical analysis identified changes in the oxygen isotope proportions in ice cores that coincided with the start or end of periods of cooler climate in Greenland’s past.&nbsp;



"Many of the abrupt transitions in the Greenland ice core record correspond to shifts between a warmer climate, known as Greenland Interstadials (GIs), and a colder climate, the Greenland Stadials (GSs)," said Bagniewski.&nbsp;



The existence of these two climate states, GI and GS, is an example of a bistable climate system, in which two distinct states are both stable. The climate may jump abruptly from one to the other after crossing a tipping point.



The authors of the study state that their statistical method correctly detected abrupt changes in climate in both sets of data. They hypothesize that these abrupt and significant transitions may have been caused by the climate parameters crossing a tipping point – where change has reached a point at which the entire system can no longer maintain a stable state and thus enters a period of dramatic change.&nbsp;



"Our methodology is very effective in correctly detecting abrupt transitions in climate records," said Bagniewski. "Its wider application may help reconstruct the chronology of Earth's climatic events."



In addition to helping identify these events in the climatic history of the Earth, this new methodology will also enhance our understanding of the potential consequences of the tipping points we may encounter in the near future, as the warming climate leads to instability in the Earth's physical systems and ecosystems.



The study is published by the <a href="https://www.aip.org/">American Institute of Physics</a> in Chaos:&nbsp;An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science.



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

Past tipping points where the climate changed abruptly

Measurements of climatic parameters, such as temperature, often show ups...

Trees are shifting their range in response to a changing climate. In particular, trees are moving to cooler or wetter habitats. Now, new research from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> shows evidence that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-wildfires-linked-to-human-activity-will-only-get-worse/">wildfires</a> are quickening this process. 



The study investigated how we can effectively manage changing and dynamic landscapes. The research comes at a time when President Biden just signed into law an infrastructure bill which includes $5 billion for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation.&nbsp;



“Complex, interdependent forces are shaping the future of our forests," said study lead author Avery Hill. "We leveraged an immense amount of ecological data in the hopes of contributing to a growing body of work aimed at managing these ecosystem transitions.”



The scientists used US Forest Service data from 74,000 plots in nine western states and identified trees shifting towards cooler or wetter locations. The rate of tree shift was then compared to areas affected by forest fires. Among eight tree species compared, the scientists found that two - douglas fir and canyon live oak - shifted further in areas that burned.&nbsp;



The researchers said their study provides empirical evidence that wildfire can increase the potential range shift rate of tree species that are moving in response to recent climate change.&nbsp;



"Furthermore, this pattern supports the argument that range shift rates are likely affected by reductions in population size and density of competitors due to wildfire."



"The findings of this study bolster previous work suggesting that competition is yet another barrier (in addition to dispersal limitations and geographic barriers) that affects the ability of plant species to track their optimal climatic conditions as they move across landscapes."



The experts did not find a mechanism for why trees were able to shift further in burned areas compared to areas that didn’t burn. One theory is that fires opened up the forest canopy and damaged the understory, leaving less competition from other trees. This suggests that not only do fires increase the speed of tree range shifts but that competition can slow these shifts for some species.&nbsp;



“This study highlights a natural mechanism that can help forests remain healthy, even in the face of small amounts of climate change," said study co-author Chris Field. "It also illustrates the way that ecosystem processes often have several layers of controls, a feature that emphasizes the value of detailed understanding for effective management.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

Wildfires help trees move to a better climate

Trees are shifting their range in response to a changing...

An,Unidentified,Man,Walking,In,The,Streets,During,Smog.

India’s Supreme Court has recently called for a citywide <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-altered-their-behavior-during-lockdowns/">lockdown</a> in the capital city New Delhi. While the city has already become accustomed to recent lockdowns caused by the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-on-antidepressants-are-less-likely-to-die-from-covid-19/">COVID-19</a> pandemic, this time the culprit is not the coronavirus, but air pollution. 



After being off the charts in some areas last week, with values even four times higher than the safe limit, this week’s <a href="https://app.cpcbccr.com/AQI_India/">Air Quality Index</a> increased slightly, being in the low 400s on a 500-point scale.



“After COVID,&nbsp;pollution has emerged as a major threat for public health particularly for children and senior citizens," declared Ashok Agarwal, national president of All India Parents' Association.



"We are getting 12-14 patients daily in the emergency room, mostly at night, when the symptoms cause disturbed sleep and panic," added Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee from Apollo Hospitals.



At a hearing this Monday, Indian officials ordered authorities to stop all nonessential travel on the roads in New Delhi, and close the schools and most offices in the area, shifting tens of millions of people to work from home.&nbsp;



Delhi’s chief minister said that although he is willing to impose a pollution-related strict lockdown, such measures will have a minimal effect if neighboring states, such as Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, will not impose similar restrictions. The officials from these states are currently meeting to discuss possible measures they could implement to mitigate this situation.



Although Indian farmers have often been blamed for exacerbating this country’s chronic pollution problem, government officials told the Supreme Court that crop-burning amounts to only about ten percent of the emissions. The larger part of the fault seems to lie in the emissions caused by factories, vehicles, and dust from constructions sites.



With over a million deaths per year caused by pollution, India should take urgent measures to curb its emissions. At the recent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cop26-deal-failure-or-historic-achievement/">COP26</a> climate summit, the country pledged to “phase down” rather than “phase out” coal emissions, and to reach a net-zero emissions scenario only by 2070 - 20 years after the United States and Europe, and ten years after China. 



According to COP26 president Alok Sharma, such measures might be insufficient for ensuring India’s – and our planet’s – current and future safety.&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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

New Delhi is on lockdown due to pollution

India’s Supreme Court has recently called for a citywide lockdown...

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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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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.

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



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.

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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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://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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



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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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.

How the immune system responds to injury

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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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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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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



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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...