Where rivers meet the ocean, coastlines tend to bend either inward or outward, creating estuaries and deltas. But how do they get those shapes?

A huge thank-you to the following organizations, all working toward sustainable deltas, for sponsoring this video: the Belmont Forum, the Sustainable Deltas Initiative, the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics, the St Anthony Falls Laboratory of the University of Minnesota, and the DELTAS project. These organizations study deltas around the world, in particular how they’re threatened by human activities such as building dams, channelizing rivers, and climate change-induced sea-level rise. If we don’t pay attention, we might lose the landform that allowed us to become civilized in the first place.

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Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some keywords/phrases to get your googling started:
– delta: the piled-up sediment (typically triangular, or greek-letter-delta-shaped) deposited by a river as it flows into a larger body of water
– estuary: a partially enclosed body of brackish (part salt, part fresh) water that connects one or more ocean-bound streams/rivers to the open sea. Geologists classify estuaries into four basic types (bar-built, coastal plain/drowned river, tectonic, and fjord), based on the geologic processes that formed them.
– ice age: this is a term that geologists use a little differently than non-scientists. Geologically speaking, an ice age is a fairly long period (~100-300 million years) of relatively cold temperatures on Earth. Within these long periods of time, the climate warms and cools lots of times, causing the ice sheets to retreat and advance; geologists refer to the colder time intervals as "glacials" and the warmer periods as "interglacials". We are currently in an "interglacial" phase (that started ~15,000 years ago) of an ice age that started ~2.6 million years ago, but because that's kind of complicated, we just say "the end of the last ice age" when what we really mean is "the end of the last 'glacial' cycle of the current ice age."
– marine transgression / marine regression: on the surface, these are just fancy ways of talking about sea level going up and down. But for geologists, "transgression" and "regression" are more useful, because land sometimes goes up and down too. For example, if movement along a tectonic fault causes part of the coast to drop below sea level, it might get flooded, but it wouldn't be accurate to attribute the flooding to sea level rise. So geologists describe the situation as "marine transgression" instead. These terms comes in handy when we're talking about deltas and estuaries: deltas are formed by marine regression, and estuaries by marine transgression.
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Credits (and Twitter handles):

Script Writer: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Script Editor: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Illustrator: Omkar Bhagat (@TheCuriousEnggr)
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Alex Reich (@alexhreich), Henry Reich (@minutephysics) and Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)

Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:

Bhattacharya, J.P. (2003) Deltas and Estuaries, In: Middleton G.V. (editor) Encyclopedia of Sedimentology, Kluwer Academic 145-152. http://www.geosc.uh.edu/docs/geos/fac...

Day, J., Gunn, J., Folan, W., Yáñez-Arancibia, A., & Horton, B. (2007). Emergence of complex societies after sea level stabilized. Eos Trans. AGU Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 88(15), 169-170.

Giosan, L., Goodbred, S.L. (2006) Deltaic Environments. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. https://www.whoi.edu/science/GG/coast...

Gupta, A. (2007). Large rivers: Geomorphology and management. Chichester, England: John Wiley.

Russell, R.J. (1967) Aspects of Coastal Morphology. Geografiska Annaler. Series A, Physical Geography 49: 299-309. (Abstract) http://www.jstor.org/stable/520896?se...

Wright, L.D. (1977) Sediment transport and deposition at river mouths: A synthesis. Geological Society of America Bulletin 88:857-868.

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___________________________________________

Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here's a keyword to get your googling started:

herd immunity: immunity that occurs when the vaccination of a portion of a population provides protection for individuals who have not developed immunity
___________________________________________

Credits:
Script Writer: Kate Yoshida (twitter:@KateYoshida)
Script Editor: Emily Elert (twitter:@eelert)
Video Illustrator: Omkar Bhagat (twitter:@TheCuriousEnggr)
Video Director: Emily Elert (twitter:@eelert)
With Contributions From: Alex Reich (twitter:@alexhreich), Henry Reich (twitter:@minutephysics), Peter Reich and Ever Salazar (twitter:@eversalazar)
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:

Alecca, J. (2015, March 31). Measles vaccinations jump after scare, public dialogue. Seattle Times. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-n...

Bohlke, K., Davis, R.L., Marcy, S. M., Braun, M. M., DeStefano, F., Black, S.B., Mullooly, J.P., Thompson, R.S. (2003). Risk of Anaphylaxis After Vaccination of Children and Adolescents, Pediatrics, 112, 815-820. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org...

Center for Disease Control (2015, August 17). Vaccines and Immunizations: Possible Side-effects from Vaccines. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/s...

Chapman University (2014). Social Reality Index. https://www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/_fi...

Chen, R.T. (1999). Vaccine risks: real, perceived and unknown. Vaccine, 17, S41–S46.

Kimmel, S. R. (2002). Vaccine Adverse Events: Separating Myth from Reality. American Family Physician, 66, 2113–2120. http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/1201/p21...

National Safety Council (2015). Injury Facts. http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowl...

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (2015). National Poll on Children's Health: Safer, with More Benefits: Parents’ Vaccines Views Shifting, Volume 24 Issue 2. http://mottnpch.org/sites/default/fil...

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___________________________________________

Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started:
-adjuvant: substance added to a vaccine to enhance the body's immune response and increase the vaccine's efficacy
-attenuation: altering a pathogen to make it less virulent (or even harmless)
-acquired immunity: components of the immune system that are developed via exposure to pathogens or other sources of infection

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With the MinuteEarth team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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________________________

References:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (2008). Toxicological profile for Aluminum. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/...

Center for Disease Control (1993). Understanding how vaccines work. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patie...

Keith, L.S., Jones, D.E., Chou, C.H. (2002). Aluminum toxicokinetics regarding infant diet and vaccinations. Vaccine 20(Sppl. 3):513-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12...

Mitkus, R.J., King, D.B., Hess M,A., Forshee, R.A., Walderhaug, M.O. (2011). Updated aluminum pharmacokinetics following infant exposures through diet and vaccination. Vaccine 29(51):9538-9543. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2...

Petrovsky, N., Aguilar J.C. (2004). Vaccine adjuvants: current state and future trends. Immunology and Cell Biology 82:482–496. http://www.nature.com/icb/journal/v82...

Sullivan, J.B. and Krieger, G.R., (Eds.) (2001). Clinical Environmental Health and Toxic Exposures. 2nd Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Thaysen-Andersen, M., Jorgensen, S.B., Wilhelmsen, E.S. et al. (2007). Investigation of the detoxification mechanism of formaldehyde-treated tetanus toxin. Vaccine 25:2213-2227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2...

Unicef (1996). The Progress of Nations: Health. "Vaccines bring 7 diseases under control." http://www.unicef.org/pon96/hevaccin.htm

We’d like to thank Focus Features for sponsoring this video – and for inviting us to pre-screen their summer 2015 film “Self/Less”. It’s a sci-fi flick that explores memory, consciousness, and immortality, and it made us think about the types of immortality that already exist here on Earth. A big thanks to Focus Features for supporting MinuteEarth! http://www.focusfeatures.com/selfless

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___________________________________________

Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started:
– negligible senescence: not showing signs of age-related progression
– biological immortality: having a mortality rate that does not increase with increasing age

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MinuteEarth provides an energetic and entertaining view of trends in earth’s environment – in just a few minutes!

Created by Henry Reich
With the MinuteEarth team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:

Aubert, G. & Lansdorp, P. M. (2008) Telomeres and aging. Physiological Review 88(2): 557–579. http://simonadellemonache.com/dispens...

Bavestrello, G. Sommer, C., and Sará, M. 1992. Bi-directional conversion in Turritopsis nutricula. In Aspects of Hydrozoan Biology. (J. Bouillon et al., editors). Scientia Marina 56 (2-3): 137-140. http://www.icm.csic.es/scimar/pdf/56/...

Buffenstein R. (2008) Negligible senescence in the longest living rodent, the naked mole rat: Insights from a successfully aging species. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 178: 439-445. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Finch, C.E. (1998) Variations in senescence and longevity include the possibility of negligible senescence. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences 53A(4): B235–239. http://biomedgerontology.oxfordjourna...

Piraino, S., Boero, F., Aeschbach, B., Schmid, V. (1996) Reversing the life cycle: medusae transforming into polyps and cell transdifferentiation in Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). Biological Bulletin 190: 302-312. http://www.researchgate.net/profile/F...

Tian, X., Azpurua, J., Hine, C., Vaidya, A., Myakishev-Rempel, M., Ablaeva, J., Mao, Z., Nevo, E., Gorbunova, V., & Seluanov, A. (2013) High-molecular-mass hyaluronan mediates the cancer resistance of the naked mole rat. Nature 499: 346–349. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/...

Image Credits: Nake Mole Rat - Buffenstein/Barshop Institute/UTHSCSA
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jedimen...

Naked Mole Rat - Roman Klementschitz, Wien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Na...

Chipmunk - Gilles Gonthier
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillesg...

Capybara - Karoly Lorentey
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorente...

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___________________________________________

Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started:
- extreme weather – Conditions and events that occur with low frequency, but which often have significant impact on people and nature; e.g., heat waves, droughts, heavy downpours, floods, blizzards, windstorms, hurricanes
- ocean heat content – the energy stored as heat in the ocean
- evapotranspiration – the movement of water vapor from land, water, plant, or animal surface into the atmosphere, driven by the drying power of the air
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MinuteEarth provides an energetic and entertaining view of trends in earth’s environment – in just a few minutes!

Created by Henry Reich
With the MinuteEarth team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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________________________

References:

Church, J. A., N. J. White, L. F. Konikow, C. M. Domingues, J. G. Cogley, E. Rignot, J. M. Gregory, M. R. van den Broeke, A. J. Monaghan, and I. Velicogna (2011), Revisiting the Earth's sea-level and energy budgets from 1961 to 2008, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L18601, doi:10.1029/2011GL048794.

Diffenbaugh, N. S., Swain D. L. & Touma, D. Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California. PNAS, doi 10.1073/pnas.1422385112 (2015). Published online.

EPA. Climate Change Indicators in the United States: Sea Surface Temperature www.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators - Updated May 2014

Gouretski, V., J. Kennedy, T. Boyer, and A. Köhl (2012), Consistent near-surface ocean warming since 1900 in two largely independent observing networks, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L19606, doi:10.1029/2012GL052975.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): Climate change 2013: The Physical science basis. Fifth Assessment report of the IPCC [Stocker, T. F. et al. eds)]. Cambridge Univ. Press. 1535 pp. (2013).

NOAA (NCEI). Global Ocean Heat and Salt Content. https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/3M_HEAT...

Trenberth, K. E. Framing the way to relate climate extremes to climate change. Climatic Change, 115, 283-290, doi: 10.1007/s10584-012-0441-5 (2012).

Trenberth, K. E., Dai, A., van der Schrier, G., Jones, P. D., Barichivich, J., Briffa, K. R. & Sheffield, J. Global warming and changes in drought. Nature Climate Change, 4, 17-22, doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2067 (2014).

Trenberth, K. E., JTFasullo, TG Shepherd. Attribution of climate extreme events. Nature Climate Change (in review).

Trenberth, K.E. (personal communication).

U.S. Global Change Research Program. 2014 National Climate Assessment. http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highl...

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___________________________________________

MinuteEarth provides an energetic and entertaining view of trends in earth’s environment – in just a few minutes!
Subscribe to see all our new videos! http://goo.gl/EpIDGd

Created by Henry Reich
With the MinuteEarth team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started:
- Condensation – the process of water molecules glomming together into visible droplets
- Condensation nuclei – tiny solid particles that water vapor condenses onto (also called aerosols)
- Homogenous condensation – condensation without any kind of condensation nuclei
- Dew point – the temperature below which water vapor starts to condense into droplets
- Heterogenous condensation – condensation that happens with the help of condensation nuclei
- Critical Embryo – a cluster of water molecules big enough to easily gain more molecules
- Cloud chamber – a cool thing to check out if you want to build a particle detector at home (it involves pumping a bunch of water vapor into pure air; when a particle passes through, it leaves a streak of ionized water molecules that, in super-saturated air, can act as condensation nuclei!)
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References:

Knupp, K. Surface Thermodynamics and Nucleation of Water Droplets and Ice Crystals. Lecture Notes. Retrieved March 2015 from: http://vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/mips/pers...

McDonald, JE (1962) Homogenous Nucleation of Vapor Condensation. I. Thermodynamic Aspects. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

McDonald, JE (1962) Homogenous Nucleation of Vapor Condensation. II. Kinetic Aspects. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
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Image Credits:

Dewdrops - David Saddler
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8050245...

How do plate tectonics REALLY work?