Earth
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Earth
Groundwater use adds CO2 to the air
Pumping out groundwater for crop irrigation or industrial purposes releases planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
By Sid Perkins -
Agriculture
Cleaning Up after Livestock
Manure collection system sanitizes cattle wastes and makes hay—literally—while the sun shines.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Clay That Kills: Ground yields antibacterial agents
A special type of French clay smothers a diverse array of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains and a particularly nasty pathogen that causes skin ulcers.
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Earth
The Big Dry
Parts of Australia have suffered from severe drought for more than a decade, and people, vegetation, and animals are feeling the heat.
By Emily Sohn -
Earth
Bad Acid: Ocean’s pH drop threatens snail defense
As ocean waters trend toward acidity, a result of atmospheric greenhouse gas buildup, a shoreline snail's defense against predatory crabs may weaken.
By Susan Milius -
Earth
Arctic sea ice falls to modern low
The area of sea ice in the Arctic is at its lowest in nearly three decades of satellite monitoring.
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Earth
A different spin
A change in the properties of Earth's mantle at high pressure and temperature may influence seismic waves in a novel way.
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Earth
Invasive, Indeed
Some people may live lightly on the land, but the demands of the world's population as a whole consume nearly a quarter of Earth's total biological productivity.
By Sid Perkins -
Agriculture
They fertilized with what?
Fields fertilized with human urine yield bigger cabbages.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Iron to blame
Typhoons that drench Madagascar and spill iron-rich runoff into the Indian Ocean account for that region's massive but sporadic algal blooms.
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Agriculture
Web Special: You fertilized with what?
A study shows that farmers can substitute human urine for conventional fertilizer.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Clearly Concerning
The toxicity of a chemical that leaches from a widely used plastic receives conflicting evaluations in two new reviews.
By Janet Raloff