Scientists have discovered a brand-new natural cycle that’s super surprising and unlike anything we’ve seen before. It turns out there’s a pattern in nature that affects ecosystems, climates, or even the way certain species behave, but we just didn’t notice it until now. This new cycle shows how different parts of the Earth are more connected than we thought, influencing each other in amazing ways. The findings could totally change how we understand things like weather patterns, animal migrations, or even plant growth. What’s exciting is that this discovery opens up so many new questions for scientists to explore. It’s a reminder that even today, nature still has secrets to reveal! Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00Salt makes our chips and popcorn taste yummy, but it turns out that's not all.
00:05It's used in household and industrial products, from cosmetics to fertilizers, from water
00:11treatment to road gritting.
00:13All over the globe, around 300 tons of salt are produced every year.
00:19But there's a problem.
00:20That's too much salt for our planet.
00:22You see, salt rises to Earth's surface from deep oceanic rocks gradually, and this process
00:28is quite balanced, or it used to be.
00:32Humans are pushing this balance out of whack.
00:34Our demand keeps increasing, and we're releasing too much salt into the soil, air, and sea.
00:40And if this process continues unchecked, we might face an existential threat.
00:45Yep, it's as serious as that, and a recent study conducted by the University of Maryland
00:51confirms this.
00:52There is this thing called the natural salt cycle.
00:56It's existed for thousands of years.
00:58Salt naturally rises to our planet's surface via geologic uplift and rock weathering.
01:05Some time later, rocks break down and release salt ions into the soil.
01:10Some of these ions are absorbed by plants and organisms.
01:13Others are washed away into rivers, which transport them into oceans.
01:17Salt also gets into the atmosphere.
01:20It happens through salt dust in dry regions and sea spray in coastal areas.
01:26It's crucial for humans because our bodies need salt, just like animals and plants do.
01:32Simply put, we're electrical systems controlled by salt.
01:36Soil needs salt because otherwise it won't clump together.
01:40Plants also need small amounts of salt since those allow them to have proper metabolism
01:45and synthesize enough chlorophyll.
01:48At the same time, too much salt isn't a great thing, and nowadays human activity is messing
01:54with the natural salt cycle, bringing salt to the planet's surface much more quickly
01:58than before.
01:59That's the conclusion researchers made after combining data from different sources, including
02:04the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Yearbook and Global Records of River Compositions and
02:10Salinity Measurements.
02:12The main factor bringing about these changes is salt mining for food and other products.
02:18Then there are also acid rains.
02:20Those increase the rate of rock weathering.
02:24These and other factors speed up the generation of salt at the surface of our planet.
02:29At the moment, the concentration of salt in the world is too high.
02:33The soil, plants, and animals can't use all of it.
02:36Even worse, some essential species can't survive with all this extra salt.
02:42Their demise changes biodiversity and can lead to the appearance of invasive species,
02:47such as phragmites.
02:49Those are tall, riddy plants taking over coastal areas.
02:53Then there's also zooplankton, an important ocean species regulating algae.
02:59It's extremely sensitive to salt.
03:01If this species starts to decline, it might mess with the world's food webs.
03:06Too much salt also turns farmlands into wastelands.
03:11Recent reports have shown that around 833 hectares of land are already affected.
03:17And that's the area around four times the size of India.
03:21In some countries, huge areas become infertile because of over-salination.
03:27Plus excess salt is bad for our health.
03:30The thing is, all that extra salt gets into groundwater, making it too salty for human
03:35consumption.
03:36It's particularly bad for people with sodium-restricted diets.
03:40And I'm not only talking about table salt or sodium chloride.
03:44No, other calcium and magnesium-based salts are seeping out too, usually from the production
03:50of fertilizers and building materials.
03:53It's like a chemical cocktail of different salts coming from various sources.
03:58And scientists don't know yet the effects such a cocktail can have on us humans and
04:03our health.
04:05So maybe now you're sitting and thinking, oh, it's time to cut back on my salt intake.
04:11Perhaps, but don't cut it all out.
04:14In the 1930s, Dr. Robert McCants from Cambridge University's Department of Experimental Medicine
04:20found four volunteers and asked them to go 10 days completely without salt.
04:25First, they had to sweat out the salt that still remained in their bodies.
04:29And after that, the scientists literally desalinated everything they were allowed to eat and drink.
04:36Soon after, the participants started to experience weird sensations.
04:40They realized that they didn't taste much flavor in anything they consumed.
04:45It got worse.
04:46Fatigue set in, and the volunteers soon got too tired to even eat.
04:51They began to show the signs of hyponatremia.
04:54It occurs when the concentration of sodium in your blood is dangerously low.
04:59And that's when a person's blood cells swell because there's not enough salt in the blood
05:04to regulate how much water a cell should and will consume.
05:09If this condition is left untreated, it can not only result in seizures but also have
05:14much, much worse consequences.
05:17At the end of the trial period, participants got some salty foods, and miraculously, within
05:22a few minutes, they could taste again, and their energy seemed to be replenished almost
05:27immediately.
05:28Honestly, it sounds kind of terrifying.
05:32If that's what a mere 10 days without salt are, imagine what catastrophe it would be
05:37if salt just ceased to exist.
05:39We wouldn't be able to last long, that's for sure.
05:42And it would be a never-ending drama not only for us but for plants and animals, too.
05:48They need salt as much as we do.
05:50If our oceans suddenly lost all the salt, it would wipe out all underwater algae, cutting
05:55photosynthesis on Earth almost in half.
05:59Land-based plants would follow suit.
06:01So, soon after the disappearance of salt, we'd face a huge issue.
06:06Too much carbon dioxide and not nearly enough oxygen.
06:10Our climate would start fluctuating between extremely hot and cold temperatures, and hurricanes
06:15would become insanely powerful and super destructive.
06:19Luckily, we still have salt at our stores and the natural salt cycle might get more
06:24or less stable again.
06:26By the way, humanity has known of and appreciated salt for many centuries.
06:31For example, it was used as offerings and to preserve mummies in ancient Egypt.
06:36It was a valuable commodity, traded between the Phoenicians and their Mediterranean empire.
06:42In ancient China, people knew of more than 40 types of salt and used it for medicinal
06:47purposes.
06:49In medieval continental Europe, Venice gained power through its salt monopoly.
06:54The production and transportation of salt led to the appearance of new cities and the
06:59construction of roads.
07:01Salzburg, the city of salt in Austria, is a great example of that.
07:07Even these days, salt continues to surprise us.
07:10For example, recently, researchers from the University of Miami Rosensteil School of Marine
07:15and Atmospheric Science have discovered rare deep-sea brine pools in the Gulf of Acaba.
07:22That's a northern extension of the Red Sea.
07:25Those salty underwater lakes are likely to hold secrets about the way oceans on Earth
07:30formed all those millions of years ago.
07:33They might also give us some clues to life on other planets.
07:38Brine pools are some of the most extreme environments on Earth.
07:41And still, despite their ultra-high salinity, somewhat exotic chemistry, and total lack
07:46of oxygen, they're teeming with life.
07:50Researchers have even found bioactive molecules with potential anti-cancer properties in brine
07:56pool microbes in the Red Sea.
07:59These super-salty, zero-oxygen brine pools are located close to the coast and might preserve
08:04information on tsunamis, earthquakes, and flash floods that took place in the Gulf of
08:09Acaba thousands of years ago.
08:13Salt has even made its way into space!
08:15Well, kind of.
08:16You see, the Moon is like a comet soaring through the cosmos.
08:20Our natural satellite is followed by a slender tail consisting of irradiated matter, and
08:25our planet passes directly through this tail once a month.
08:29Well, according to a study published in the journal JGR Planets, this lunar tail is made
08:35of millions of sodium atoms.
08:38And as you already know, the chemical formula of salt is sodium chloride.
08:44Those atoms get blasted out of the lunar soil by meteor strikes and then pushed thousands
08:49of miles downstream by solar radiation.
08:53For several days a month, when the new Moon is located between Earth and the Sun, the
08:57gravity of our planet drags that sodium tail into a long beam which wraps around our planet's
09:04atmosphere.
09:05The tail itself is harmless and invisible to the unaided eye, but during those new Moon
09:10days, high-powered telescopes can detect the faint orange glow of sodium in the sky.
09:16That's it for today!
09:17So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:21friends.
09:22Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!