Earth

Earth

Sudden Chill

Today's combination of nuclear proliferation, political instability, and urban demographics increases the likelihood that humankind could suffer a devastating nuclear winter.

Earth

Heating releases cookware chemicals

Nonstick coatings on fry pans and microwave-popcorn bags can, when heated, release traces of potentially toxic perfluorinated chemicals.

Earth

Aquatic Non-Scents

Many common pollutants appear to be jeopardizing the survival of fish and other aquatic species by blunting their sense of smell.

Earth

2006: Hottest year in U.S. history

Preliminary analyses of weather data gathered from more than 1,200 sites across the continental United States indicate that last year was the warmest on record.

Earth

Mercury pollution settles in hot spots

Certain areas of North America are particularly susceptible to environmental accumulation of mercury.

Earth

Counterintuitive Toxicity

Toxicologists risk missing important health effects, both good and bad, if they don't begin regularly probing the impacts of very low doses of poisons.

Agriculture

Cloned Meat and Milk Are Safe, but They Won’t Hit Stores Soon

A Food and Drug Administration analysis concludes that food from cloned animals is safe, but the effort and expense involved in creating these animals means that products from them won't be in markets anytime soon.

Earth

Natural Hazards

The U.S. Geological Survey has launched a new Web site about the threat of natural disasters. It provides seven easy-to-understand fact sheets on earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes, and wildfires. The site also highlights resources and information available from the USGS and provides links to individual hazards Web pages for more detailed information. Go […]

Agriculture

Big footprints

Livestock production carries surprisingly high, and largely hidden, environmental costs.

Earth

Yes, it’s asbestos

Federal mineralogists have corroborated earlier evidence that Sierra-foothills communities around Sacramento, Calif., are built atop soils naturally laced with asbestos.

Earth

Meteorites on Ice

Join a recent expedition to the Antarctic to search for meteorites. Check out reports from the 2006-2007 trek in the daily expedition blog. Go to: http://geology.cwru.edu/~ansmet/ and http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/ansmet2/

Earth

Scraping the bottom

A survey of deep waters in western Lake Superior has revealed the tracks left by massive icebergs scraping bottom there during the last ice age.