Earth

  1. Humans

    Bear deadline

    Court calls for the already overdue decision on listing polar bears as a threatened species.

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  2. Earth

    Molten salts give biofuels a boost

    Making biofuels from the chemical energy locked in plant cell walls has proven difficult, but molten salts may help.

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  3. Ecosystems

    Building Homes Where the Buffalo Roamed

    A new study finds that being environmentally conscious is no guarantee you’ll put your home where you mouth is.

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  4. Humans

    The Return of EPA’s Libraries

    After mothballing five libraries as a purported cost-cutting gesture, the agency is now responding to congressional prodding and unboxing its books.

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  5. Climate

    Science News for Kids: Polar Ice Feels the Heat

    From glaciers to sea ice, the big melt is on.

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  6. Earth

    Climate fix could deplete polar ozone

    Scientists seeking to cool Earth’s climate by injecting sulfuric acid droplets high in the atmosphere might trim rising temperatures but could also destroy much of the ozone in polar regions, a new study suggests.

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  7. Ecosystems

    Eight-legged bags of poison

    Birds eating arachnids get high dose of toxic metal as mercury climbs up the food chain.

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  8. Ecosystems

    Beetle attack overturns forest carbon regime

    Ravaged Canadian region switches from carbon sink to net carbon source.

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  9. Agriculture

    Study decodes papaya genome

    Scientists have added another plant to the genome-sequencing roster: the tropical fruit tree papaya.

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  10. Earth

    Melt pond falls through ice in Greenland

    A lake of meltwater atop Greenland's ice sheet wedged open a crack in the underlying ice that drained the lake dry.

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  11. Environment

    Down with Carbon

    Scientists are exploring strategies for capturing carbon dioxide and storing it safely away in order to limit the levels of that greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

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  12. Earth

    BOOK LIST | A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder

    Beautiful photos of sand grains up close reveal surprising diversity. Text describes a sand grain’s journey from mountain to beach. A GRAIN OF SAND Voyageur Press, 2008, 112 p. $20.

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