Climate & Environment

CUriosity: Do animals have emotions?

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:00:00 +0000

CUriosity: Do animals have emotions? Yvaine Ye Wed, 12/18/2024 - 08:00

Yvaine Ye

In CUriosity, experts across the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ campus answer pressing questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, answers: “Do animals have emotions?”

Pet owners tend to see their animals’ feelings clearly. Dogs wagging their tails when the owners get home? Happiness. Crouching down after being caught raiding the trash? Embarrassment. Barking, and jumping up and down when they see their friends? Excitement.

But what about less cuddly creatures? Do crustaceans and birds have emotions, too?

Previously in CUriosity

Previously in CUriosity

What does an all-nighter do to your body?

“Of course they do,” Bekoff said “There's solid science showing very clearly that a wide diversity of animals have emotions, from mammals to all the vertebrates and invertebrates.”

Bekoff has spent decades observing animals from coyotes in the Rocky Mountains to Adélie penguins in Antarctica. He has written multiple books about animal sentience including “The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy—and Why They Matter.”

He said emotions play an important role in helping animals make decisions about how to respond to social situations, such as whether to run from a potential danger or to approach a mate. For group-living animals like coyotes and wolves, having emotions is fundamental to forming packs.

Evidence has shown that mammals—including humans—emit similar brain chemicals during emotional situations. For example, birds secrete dopamine, a chemical that makes humans feel good, when they sing songs to attract a potential mate.

But even invertebrates like insects and crustaceans could experience emotions, according to a growing body of research. While scientists can't definitively say lobsters experience happiness the same way as humans do, they certainly avoid painful situations.

Marc Bekoff looking for dingoes in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia. (Credit: Brad Purcell)

“There is a biodiversity of emotions,” Bekoff said. He explained that the feeling of joy varies even between different people, but that doesn’t mean animals like lobsters or ants don’t experience happiness. “It may simply look different than in humans.”

Recognizing all animals have emotions can help people develop more empathy toward wildlife and support wildlife conservation efforts, he added.

In a paper published earlier this year, Bekoff and his collaborators proposed that treating individual animals as creatures with emotions and personalities, in addition to understanding the species as a whole, could help preserve biodiversity.

For example, people might be more willing to use loud sounds or strong scents to scare away predators they encounter rather than resort to killing.

Bekoff said Colorado could apply these approaches to help manage its wildlife, including grey wolves, which were reintroduced in the state in December following a voter-approved initiative. For social animals like wolves, if the leader dies, it can lead to the dissolution of the entire pack, he said.

“Wolves have very tight bonds with their pack members,” Bekoff said. “Pups have very tight bonds with their mom. Killing any of these individuals will not support a sustainable population.”

In the end, Bekoff says humans shouldn’t be so quick to brush off other animals.

“It's really easy to write off an ant or a lobster or a crayfish, but there's no reason to. My take as a scientist is to keep the door open until we are sure that it is not true.”

Professor Emeritus Marc Bekoff shares his decades of research on the emotional lives of animals and how it could influence wildlife management.

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A front-row seat to evolution: What common barn swallows can teach us about how new species form

Yvaine Ye — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 19:00:00 +0000

A front-row seat to evolution: What common barn swallows can teach us about how new species form Yvaine Ye Thu, 12/12/2024 - 12:00

Yvaine Ye

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder—even if that beholder is a barn swallow.

Depending on where the birds live, some of them may favor mates with a paler chest color while others find a redder chest more attractive. The difference in what these birds prefer when it comes to choosing a mate is helping scientists unlock one of biology’s greatest mysteries: How do new species originate?

In a new ��ƷSM��ӰƬ-led study, biologists used genetic sequencing from barn swallows around the globe to provide real-time evidence that sexual selection, in which organisms choose mates based on traits they find attractive, drives the emergence of new species.

The study was published Dec 12 in the journal Science.

A pair of Hirundo rustica erythrogaster. (Credit: Matt Wilkins)

“This is one of the very first papers to comprehensively show the role of mate selection decisions in the evolution of new species,” said Rebecca Safran, the paper’s senior author and professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The new findings shed light on how new species form, a fundamental but elusive process for all life on Earth.

Proving Darwin right

Charles Darwin proposed the theory of sexual selection in 1875. It suggests that organisms evolve showy traits, like extravagant plumage or eye-catching dance moves, to attract mates. When organisms of the same species develop preferences for different traits and no longer breed with each other, new species could emerge over time, a process known as speciation.

For the past 150 years, researchers of sexual selection have primarily studied organisms that already diverged into distinct species. For example, orchids, which now encompass more than 25,000 species, originated from a common ancestor. Their remarkable diversity often leads to the assumption that they evolved different looks to attract different pollinators, said Drew Schield, the paper’s first author and assistant professor at the University of Virginia.

“It’s logical to think this way and it could totally be the case,” said Schield, who did the research while a postdoctoral researcher at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ. “But with speciation already having occurred, it’s impossible to know for certain.” As a result, it has been difficult to find direct evidence that sexual selection drives the emergence of new species.

Barn swallows provide a unique opportunity to explore the speciation process as it unfolds.

These birds are one of the most common and widespread species on our planet. Currently, there are six subspecies of barn swallow each looking slightly different in some traits critical to the mate choice decisions depending on where they are.

Hirundo rustica rustica (left) and Hirundo rustica tytleri (right) have different sexually selected traits. For example, one has a red chest and the other has a pale chest.

For example, the East Asian group, Hirundo rustica gutturalis, has a pale chest and shorter tail streamers—the elongated outer tail feathers. Hirundo rustica tytleri, found in Siberia, has long tail streamers and red chest feathers. The subspecies in Europe and western Asia, Hirundo rustica rustica, has a pale chest and long tail streamers.

Reuniting after isolation

Evidence suggests that the bird’s ancestors left the Nile River valley in northern Africa about 11,000 years ago and spread out across the Northern Hemisphere. For thousands of years, different populations barely interacted and developed diverse traits, forming subspecies.

Some 800 to 2000 years ago, certain subspecies expanded their territories, and habitats began to overlap. In some parts of the world, subspecies now interact with each other, producing hybrid offspring.

Safran and her team set out to investigate whether sexual selection in these birds was driving the speciation process.

The team, including Elizabeth Scordato, associate professor at the California State Polytechnic University, sequenced the genomes of 336 barn swallows from around the globe, encompassing all subspecies and three hybrid zones, where subspecies interbreed, in Eurasia.

The researchers found a dozen regions in the barn swallow genome associated with the birds’ two sexually selected traits: Ventral coloration—the plumage color of their chest and belly— and tail streamer length.

When individuals reproduce, the genes from both parents reshuffle and combine to form the genes of their offspring. When two populations encounter one another, the flow of genetic material from one to another is a marker of how similar the populations are. If the rate of gene flow is low, it means the two populations are breeding with each other at a lower rate than they would if they are the same species.

The study found that in barn swallow hybrid zones much of their genes flows freely across groups. But the genetic regions coding for ventral coloration and tail streamer length hardly transfer to other populations.

A pair of Hirundo rustica rustica in Turkey. (Credit: Matt Wilkins)

It suggests that among the hybrid individuals with parents from different subspecies, a small number of lucky birds that inherit a favorable combination of tail streamer and ventral color genes are able to attract mates. Hybrids that receive less favorable combinations tend to be less successful in reproduction.

“These genes are hitting a boundary due to divergent sexual selection, and they stop moving from one population to the other,” Schield said.

The different preferences for tail feather length and chest color across subspecies make barn swallows more likely to mate within their own group, Schield added. If the trend continues, these groups could no longer interbreed or produce offspring, markers for the formation of separate species.

Next, the team plans to sample more birds and study whether being a hybrid affects reproductive success.

“It’s very cool that we could capture a real-time evolutionary portrait of this common animal and understand how and why the populations are diverging,” Safran said. “Our understanding of the process is fundamentally important for addressing a wide range of questions related to biodiversity, evolution and conservation.”

In a ��ƷSM��ӰƬ-led study, scientists describe how different traits used to choose mates in barn swallow populations are driving the bird to diverge, which could eventually lead to the formation of new species.

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A Hirundo rustica erythrogaster in Colorado. (Credit: Matt Wilkins)

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A Hirundo rustica erythrogaster in Colorado. (Credit: Matt Wilkins)

Scientists aim to reduce emissions from cows—by changing their diet

Megan Maneval — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 16:08:24 +0000

Scientists aim to reduce emissions from cows—by changing their diet Megan Maneval Thu, 12/12/2024 - 09:08

CIRES

A high-tech laser measured gases produced by cattle on a Kansas feedlot. The results may help mitigate future cattle emissions.

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��ƷSM��ӰƬ at AGU 2024: From Earth to space

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:19:10 +0000

��ƷSM��ӰƬ at AGU 2024: From Earth to space Daniel William… Mon, 12/09/2024 - 03:19

From Dec. 9 to 13, tens of thousands of people from more than 100 countries will gather in Washington D.C. for the 2024 meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

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Countdown to an ice-free Arctic: New research warns of accelerated timelines

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Countdown to an ice-free Arctic: New research warns of accelerated timelines Yvaine Ye Tue, 12/03/2024 - 21:00

Yvaine Ye

The first summer on record that melts practically all of the Arctic’s sea ice, an ominous milestone for the planet, could occur as early as 2027.

For the first time, an international research team, including ��ƷSM��ӰƬ climatologist Alexandra Jahn and Céline Heuzé from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, used computer models to predict when the first ice-free day could occur in the northernmost ocean. An ice-free Arctic could significantly impact the ecosystem and Earth’s climate by changing weather patterns.

“The first ice-free day in the Arctic won’t change things dramatically,” said Jahn, associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and fellow at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. “But it will show that we've fundamentally altered one of the defining characteristics of the natural environment in the Arctic Ocean, which is that it is covered by sea ice and snow year-round, through greenhouse gas emissions.”

Alexandra Jahn

The findings were published Dec. 3 in the journal Nature Communications. Jahn will also present the results Dec. 9 at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in Washington D.C.

A Blue Arctic

As the climate warms from increasing greenhouse gas emissions, sea ice in the Arctic has disappeared at an unprecedented speed of more than 12% each decade.

In September, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that this year’s Arctic sea ice minimum—the day with the least amount of frozen seawater in the Arctic—was one of the lowest on record since 1978.

At 1.65 million square miles, or 4.28 million square kilometers, this year’s minimum was above the all-time low observed in September 2012. But it still represents a stark decline compared to the average coverage of 6.85 million square kilometers between 1979 and 1992.

When the Arctic Ocean has less than 1 million square kilometers of ice, scientists say the Arctic is ice free.

Previous projections of Arctic sea ice change have focused on predicting when the ocean will become ice free for a full month. Jahn’s prior research suggested that the first ice-free month would occur almost inevitably and might happen by the 2030s.

As the tipping point approaches, Jahn wondered when the first summer day that melts virtually all of the Arctic sea ice will occur.

“Because the first ice-free day is likely to happen earlier than the first ice-free month, we want to be prepared. It’s also important to know what events could lead to the melting of all sea ice in the Arctic Ocean,” Heuzé said.

Non-zero possibility

Arctic sea ice is melting as a result of climate change. (Credit: Céline Heuzé/University of Gothenburg)

Jahn and Heuzé projected/estimated the first ice-free Arctic day using output from over 300 computer simulations. They found that most models predicted that the first ice-free day could happen within nine to 20 years after 2023 regardless of how humans alter their greenhouse gas emissions. The earliest ice-free day in the Arctic Ocean could occur within three years.

It’s an extreme scenario but a possibility based on the models. In total, nine simulations suggested that an ice-free day could occur in three to six years.

The researchers found that a series of extreme weather events could melt two million square kilometers or more of sea ice in a short period of time: A unusually warm fall first weakens the sea ice, followed by a warm Arctic winter and spring that prevents sea ice from forming. When the Arctic experiences such extreme warming for three or more years in a row, the first ice-free day could happen in late summer.

Those kinds of warm years have already happened. For example, in March 2022, areas of the Arctic were 50°F warmer than average, and areas around the North Pole were nearly melting. With climate change, the frequency and intensity of these weather events will only increase, according to Heuzé.

Sea ice protects the Arctic from warming by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space. With less reflective ice, darker ocean waters will absorb more heat from the Sun, further increasing temperatures in the Arctic and globally. In addition, warming in the Arctic could change wind and ocean current patterns, leading to more extreme weather events around the world.

But there’s also good news: A drastic cut in emissions could delay the timeline for an ice-free Arctic and reduce the time the ocean stays ice-free, according to the study.

“Any reductions in emissions would help preserve sea ice,” Jahn said.

Scientists demonstrate how a series of extreme weather events could lead to the Arctic’s first ice-free day within just a few years.

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The amount of sea ice in the Arctic region is declining at unprecedented rates. (Credit: Céline Heuzé/University of Gothenburg)

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The amount of sea ice in the Arctic region is declining at unprecedented rates. (Credit: Céline Heuzé/University of Gothenburg)

Building a just future: Why graduate research must include energy justice

Megan Maneval — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:30:20 +0000

Building a just future: Why graduate research must include energy justice Megan Maneval Tue, 12/03/2024 - 09:30

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Fossil fuel energy has a history of unfair impacts, like displacing marginalized communities and causing health problems. If the shift to renewable energy isn’t done carefully and fairly, it could continue or worsen economic and racial injustices for the communities most affected by climate change.

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New model can predict marine heatwaves, extreme ocean acidity months in advance

Megan Maneval — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:33:45 +0000

New model can predict marine heatwaves, extreme ocean acidity months in advance Megan Maneval Mon, 11/25/2024 - 07:33

INSTAAR

New research from INSTAAR doctoral student Samuel Mogen, Director Nicole Lovenduski and collaborators could help protect marine life. Their model is the first-ever forecasting tool for ocean acidification.

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Will the US withdraw from the Paris Agreement? An expert’s take on climate policy under Trump

Yvaine Ye — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:08:51 +0000

Will the US withdraw from the Paris Agreement? An expert’s take on climate policy under Trump Yvaine Ye Fri, 11/22/2024 - 15:08

Yvaine Ye

As this year’s United Nations climate summit, COP 29, comes to an end, world leaders are uncertain about the future of climate change progress given the result of the latest U.S. presidential election.

Many expect the president-elect, Donald Trump, to again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, a pact that governments agreed to during COP 21. The 2015 agreement aimed to reduce emissions and prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising more than 2°C, or 3.6°F, and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels. Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2017 during his first term as president.

Max Boykoff

Walking away from the agreement again would mean that the U.S., the biggest historical emitter of carbon dioxide, could further stall international efforts to slash emissions at a time when the world is already falling far short of the 2°C goal.

“This is a time when we need to be leaning into climate policy action, but the Trump administration's withdrawal would lose some of that momentum,” said Max Boykoff, professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and a fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ.

It also means that the world’s largest economy might no longer provide financial support to developing countries to help them transition to low-carbon economies and cope with the impact of climate change, a key topic in recent United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) conferences.

��ƷSM��ӰƬ Today sat down with Boykoff to discuss what a second Trump presidency could mean for U.S. and international climate policies.

If the Trump administration backs out of the Paris agreement again, do you expect a worse impact than the previous withdrawal?

The Trump Administration, if they were to withdraw, would join only a small handful of countries, including Libya, Iran and Yemen, as the only defectors from this international agreement. Currently contributing 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. would leave behind nearly 200 countries that are working together to significantly address climate change at a global level.

As the United States is potentially flip flopping in terms of its commitment on climate change in the international arena, there is a loss of trust and a loss of opportunity for the U.S. to be in a position of leadership in a clean energy economy, and more generally on other global issues as well.

The withdrawal may also cause other leaders, who have also expressed resistance to addressing climate policy as a priority in their own countries, to leave the agreement.

What impact could a Trump Administration have on renewable energy and electric vehicles that are already becoming more mainstream?

The renewable energy sector has grown to a point where it actually makes great financial sense to continue to benefit from these market trends. With the way the economy has been moving, the Trump administration's withdrawal from supporting renewable energy projects may carry more symbolic significance than actual functional significance.

Even during Trump’s first term, there were still trends toward decarbonization. Despite Trump’s advocacy for fossil fuel use, emissions remained pretty steady before they dropped off precipitously during the pandemic. The amount of electricity generated from fossil fuels actually went down slightly. The amount of renewable energy that supplied industry and other aspects of society actually increased nearly 50% during the first Trump administration.

Do you think the US will stay on track to meet its own climate pledge of achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2050?

With this incoming second Trump administration, it is likely that there will be a lack of leadership and commitment to address climate change through policy actions at the scale, level, and urgency required.

But some elements of the incoming Trump administration, including their stance on deregulation, can actually help with the ongoing decarbonization process. For example, many of the permitting requirements have been inhibiting the proliferation of new infrastructure like transmission lines that can carry electricity from renewables across the country. So some of the Trump administration promises, while symbolically aligning with a stance that isn't favorable for climate policy action, may inadvertently help.

Are you worried that the Trump administration will roll back federal investment in renewable projects around the country?

Yes, but much of the funding from many of the decarbonization policies put forward during the Biden administration, including the Inflation Reduction Act, has flowed to many Republican-led states. While there have been many early indications that the Trump Administration will curtail renewable energy investments, we may see enough resistance and pushback from members of his own party in these states.

Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint for the next Republican president, calls for withdrawing not only from the Paris agreement, but also its parent treaty, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). How concerning would it be if the U.S. withdraws from UNFCCC?

The 900+ page report devotes about 40 pages to dismantling climate and environmental policies in the U.S. Withdrawing from the 1992 UNFCCC can have many consequences in terms of U.S. leadership and involvement in ongoing COP negotiations.

The UNFCCC will continue to go forward with or without the United States. So withdrawing is, frankly, unwise. When you're still in the treaty, you can influence the conversations and decision-making that take place, but withdrawing from it places the Trump administration and their emissaries on the outside of ongoing negotiations.

What are you most concerned about regarding how the second Trump administration will impact climate policies?

What worries me most is the loss of support for everyday working-class people here in the United States who are experiencing the impacts of climate change and other connected issues because of potential decisions that the Trump administration may make along with support—or lack of resistance—from Congress.

Those who are at the forefront of climate impacts, those who are vulnerable within this country are often those with the least influential voices, often those with the least amount of power to call for the kind of actions that are needed to improve their lives and livelihoods. It remains to be seen where the funding cuts will be proposed, but on climate terms—irrespective of left-right politics—the second Trump administration’s early signaling of their plans is worrisome.

��ƷSM��ӰƬ Today regularly publishes Q&As with our faculty members weighing in on news topics through the lens of their scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and university style guidelines.

The reelection of Donald Trump could set back global efforts to address climate change, but ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Max Boykoff suggests it may not completely derail clean energy progress.

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More snow could protect glaciers from melt—but only if we do something soon

Megan Maneval — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 14:12:08 +0000

More snow could protect glaciers from melt—but only if we do something soon Megan Maneval Fri, 11/22/2024 - 07:12

INSTAAR

In an era of dwindling glaciers, Southern Patagonia has managed to hold on to a surprising amount of its ice. However, a new INSTAAR study suggests this protective effect might be pushed up against its limits soon.

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Was ‘Snowball Earth’ a global event? New study delivers the best proof yet

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 17:21:16 +0000

Was ‘Snowball Earth’ a global event? New study delivers the best proof yet Daniel William… Mon, 11/11/2024 - 10:21

Daniel Strain

Geologists have uncovered strong evidence from Colorado that massive glaciers covered Earth down to the equator hundreds of millions of years ago, transforming the planet into an icicle floating in space.

The study, led by ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, is a coup for proponents of a long-standing theory known as Snowball Earth. It posits that from about 720 to 635 million years ago, and for reasons that are still unclear, a runaway chain of events radically altered the planet’s climate. Temperatures plummeted, and ice sheets that may have been several miles thick crept over every inch of Earth’s surface.

“This study presents the first physical evidence that Snowball Earth reached the heart of continents at the equator,” said Liam Courtney-Davies, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Geological Sciences at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ.

Reddish-brown bands of Tava sandstone cut through other rocks. (Credit: Liam Courtney-Davies)

A slope along Arapaho Pass in Colorado's Front Range where orangish Tava sandstone pokes up to the surface. (Credit: Christine Siddoway)

The team will publish its findings the week of Nov. 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-authors include Rebecca Flowers, professor of geological sciences at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ, and researchers from Colorado College, the University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California, Berkeley.

The study zeroes in on the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Here, a series of rocks nicknamed the Tavakaiv, or “Tava,” sandstones hold clues to this frigid period in Earth’s past, Courtney-Davies said.

The researchers used a dating technique called laser ablation mass spectrometry, which zaps minerals with lasers to release some of the atoms inside. They showed that these rocks had been forced underground between about 690 to 660 million years ago—in all likelihood from the weight of huge glaciers pressing down above them.

Courtney-Davies added that the study will help scientists understand a critical phase in not just the planet’s geologic history but also the history of life on Earth. The first multicellular organisms may have emerged in oceans immediately after Snowball Earth thawed.

“You have the climate evolving, and you have life evolving with it. All of these things happened during Snowball Earth upheaval,” he said. “We have to better characterize this entire time period to understand how we and the planet evolved together.”

Searching for snow

The term “Snowball Earth” dates back to a paper published in 1992 by American geologist Joseph Kirschvink.

Despite decades of research, however, scientists are yet to agree whether the entire globe actually froze. Geologists, for example, have discovered the fingerprints of thick ice from this time period along ancient coastal areas, but not within the interior of continents close to the equator.

Which is where Colorado enters the picture. At the time, the region didn’t sit at the northern latitudes where it does today. Instead, Colorado rested over the equator as a landlocked part of the ancient supercontinent Laurentia.

If glaciers formed here, scientists believe, then they could have formed anywhere.

Going deep

The search for that missing piece of the puzzle brought Courtney-Davies and his colleagues to the Tava sandstones. Today, these features poke up from the ground in a few locations along Colorado’s Front Range, most notably around Pikes Peak. To the untrained eye, they might seem like ordinary-looking yellow to brown rock running in vertical bands less than an inch to many feet wide.

But for geologists, these features have an unusual history. They likely began as sands at the surface of Colorado at some point in the past. But then forces pushed them underground—like claws digging into the Earth’s crust.

“These are classic geological features called injectites that often form below some ice sheets, including in modern-day Antarctica,” Courtney-Davies said.

He wanted to find out if the Tava sandstones were also connected to ice sheets. To do that, the researchers calculated the ages of mineral veins that sliced through those features. They collected tiny samples of the minerals, which are rich in iron oxide (essentially, rust), then hit them with a laser. In the process, the minerals released small quantities of lead and the radioactive element uranium. Because uranium atoms decay into lead at a constant rate, the team could use them as a sort of timekeeper for the planet’s rocks.

It was a Eureka moment: The group’s findings suggest that the Tava sandstone had been pushed underground during Snowball Earth. The group suspects that, at the time, thick ice sheets formed over Colorado, exposing the sands to intense pressures. Eventually, and with nowhere else to go, they pushed down into the bedrock below.

"We're excited that we had the opportunity to unravel the story of the only Snowball Earth deposits that have so far been identified in Colorado,” Flowers said.

The researchers aren't done yet: If such features formed in Colorado during Snowball Earth, they probably formed in other spots around North America, too.

“We want to get the word out so that others try and find these features and help us build a more complete picture of Snowball Earth,” Courtney-Davies said.

A series of rocks hiding around Colorado's Rocky Mountains hold clues to a frigid period in Earth's past when glaciers several miles thick may have covered the entire planet.

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A view of Pikes Peak in Colorado. (Credit: Adobe Stock)

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A view of Pikes Peak in Colorado. (Credit: Adobe Stock)

Climate & Environment

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Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint for the next Republican president, calls for withdrawing not only from the Paris agreement, but also its parent treaty, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). How concerning would it be if the U.S. withdraws from UNFCCC?

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