Earth

  1. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    A new explanation of cold northeast winters, plus shrinking newborns and the Russian heat wave in this week’s news.

    By
  2. Humans

    Climate meddling dates back 8,000 years

    Cutting down trees put lots of carbon into the atmosphere long before the industrial revolution began.

    By
  3. Earth

    Major earthquakes not linked

    Global seismic risks don’t rise following big events, scientists say.

    By
  4. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Monsoons may have sped India's tectonic plate, plus saber-toothed reptiles and leaden bones in this week's news.

    By
  5. Humans

    Noise is what ails beaked whales

    Large-scale experiments reveal a sensitivity to sonar, apparently at lower levels than other species.

    By
  6. Earth

    Global gale warning

    Over the world’s oceans, the strongest winds may be getting more powerful, a new study shows.

    By
  7. Life

    Fruit-eating fish does far-flung forestry

    Overfishing may be robbing trees in the Amazonian floodplain of vital seed dispersers.

    By
  8. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Nuclear-test monitoring eavesdrops on volcanoes, too, plus tiny tar balls and nonstick hemoglobin in this week’s news.

    By
  9. Tech

    U.S. network detects Fukushima plume

    Traces of radioactivity attributable to the earthquake-damaged Fukushima reactor complex in Japan have reached the West Coast of the United States.

    By
  10. Tech

    Chernobyl’s lessons for Japan

    Radioactive iodine released by the Chernobyl nuclear accident has left a legacy of thyroid cancers among downwinders — one that shows no sign of diminishing. The new data also point to what could be in store if conditions at Japan’s troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex continue to sour.

    By
  11. Tech

    Radiation: Japan’s third crisis

    As if the magnitude-9 earthquake on March 11 and killer tsunami weren’t enough, a new round of aftershocks — psychological ones over fear of radiation — are rocking Japan and its neighbors.

    By
  12. Humans

    Record ozone thinning looms in Arctic

    Depletion could expose the northern midlatitudes to higher-than-normal ultraviolet radiation in coming weeks.

    By