Earth

  1. Life

    Just ain’t natural

    Monster data crunch strengthens case that climate is disrupted.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Pollution and blood clots

    Inhaling tiny pollution particles, even at concentrations allowed in urban air, appears to increase the risk that an individual’s veins will develop potentially lethal blood clots.

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  3. Earth

    Emissions head north

    When it comes to Arctic air, various regions of the Northern Hemisphere are equal opportunity polluters. Even some subtropical countries in southern Asia get into the act.

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  4. Humans

    Scientific Interference: Complaints At EPA

    Results from a survey of more than 1,500 EPA scientists suggest a systematic attack on scientific integrity within that agency.

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  5. Climate

    A little drier every day

    The Sahara, one of the hottest and driest regions on Earth, gradually became arid over a period of centuries, a finding that contradicts many previous studies.

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  6. Life

    Risky nests

    Invasive species misleads birds picking a home.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Perchlorate: A Saga Continues

    Perchlorate is not yet a household word in many parts of the country. But it may becomes one if Sen. Barbara Boxer has her way. Perchlorate – an ingredient in solid rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives – taints drinking-water supplies around the nation, not to mention plenty of foods. In animal tests, the pollutant […]

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  8. Life

    Brittle arms lose muscle

    In lab simulations of future ocean conditions, brittle stars grow extra-calcified but puny arms.

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  9. Agriculture

    Ethanol Fallout: Health Risks for Livestock

    With Uncle Sam pushing the production of ethanol for fuel, U.S. farmers are planting more corn than at any time since World War II, and garnering premium prices for each harvested bushel. But many livestock operations are getting hit with a double whammy: higher feeds costs and corn-derived feed that’s carrying triple the normal load of fungal poisons.

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  10. Earth

    Babbitt to Southern Louisiana: Look into Gondolas

    “New Orleans, at the end of the century, will be an island” — literally, predicts Bruce Babbitt. Whether or not you believe his assessment, he makes a good case for considering the implications of climate change when planning federal projects.

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  11. Climate

    Air Pollution Can Be So Cool — ing

    Fossil-fuel pollution has been offsetting global warming to the tune of about 30 percent per year. Cleaning up that pollution, a must, threatens to accelerate warming unless humanity changes its fuel-use strategy.

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  12. Life

    The Arctic isn’t alone

    Insects and other animals that regulate their body temperature externally may be especially vulnerable as the world warms.

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