Earth

Earth

NOAA’s Virtual World

Players of the virtual reality game Second Life can now soar through a virtual hurricane, experience rising through the atmosphere atop a weather balloon, and more at the National Atmospheric Administration’s new site. Go to: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/outreach/sl/

Earth

Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did a comet blow up over eastern Canada?

An extraterrestrial object apparently exploded above Canada about 12,900 years ago, sparking devastating wildfires and triggering a millennium-long cold spell.

Earth

Using seismometers to monitor glaciers

Seismic instruments could be used to estimate the amount of ice that shears away from glaciers as they flow into the sea, offering a way to better estimate sea level rise due to the breakup of those ice masses.

Earth

Fish Free Fall: Hormone leads to population decline

Trace amounts of the synthetic estrogen used in birth control pills can cause a fish population to collapse.

Earth

Southern seas slow their uptake of CO2

In recent decades, the rate at which oceans in the Southern Hemisphere soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide has slowed.

Earth

Biological Hot Spots: Ocean eddies may not always lock away carbon

The carbon in the tissues of organisms that bloom inside some ocean eddies doesn't always sink to the ocean floor to be locked away in sediments when those organisms die.

Earth

Emissions tied to global warming are on the rise

The United States emitted nearly 1 percent more greenhouse gases in 2005 than it did in the year before.

Earth

Not-So-Clear Alternative: In its air-quality effects, ethanol fuel is similar to gasoline

Switching the nation's vehicles from gasoline to ethanol may not reduce air pollution.

Earth

Lake Superior is warming faster than its local climate

In recent decades, the waters of Lake Superior have warmed significantly faster than have air temperatures at nearby sites onshore, a trend caused in part by a long-term decrease in the lake's winter ice cover.

Agriculture

Bugged wines

Stinky compounds emitted by ladybugs can impart a foul taste to wines made from grapes on which the insects had been feeding.

Earth

Ash Detector: Laser device could protect aircraft in flight

Analysis of a volcanic plume that wafted over central Alaska suggests that polarized laser beams can detect airborne ash, which can be a threat to aircraft.

Earth

Pregnancy and Pollution: Women living in areas with poor air quality have babies with lower birthweights

Pregnant women exposed even to moderate amounts of several common air pollutants tend to have babies with low birthweights.