Earth
- Earth
Dim Harvest: Asian air pollution has limited rice yields
Thick clouds of air pollution over southern Asia and increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere worldwide have reduced rice harvests in India for the past 2 decades.
- Earth
Woods to Waters: Wildfires amplify mercury contamination in fish
Forest fires mobilize mercury from the soil and can send the toxic metal into nearby streams and lakes where it accumulates in fish.
- Agriculture
Wheat gone wild
Researchers have identified a gene responsible for boosting the protein, iron, and zinc content of some varieties of wild wheat by 10 to 15 percent.
- Earth
Lead in the Water: Mapping gets a handle on disinfectant’s danger
Researchers are investigating the link between lead-contaminated water and chloramine, a chemical disinfectant that is increasingly used in municipal water supplies.
- Earth
Leaden swan song
Large numbers of trumpeter swans are succumbing to lead poisoning as a result of ingesting old shotgun pellets in areas where use of lead shot has been banned for more than a decade.
- Earth
No-stick chemicals can mimic estrogen
Some of the perfluorinated compounds used to impart nonstick properties to fabrics and cookware can not only activate a receptor for sex hormones but also inappropriately feminize fish.
- Earth
Sharks, dolphins store pollutants
Florida's top aquatic predators are rapidly accumulating high concentrations of brominated flame retardants and other persistent toxic chemicals.
- Earth
Could Prozac muscle out mussels?
Antidepressant drugs may be depressing wild-mussel populations.
- Agriculture
Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea
Some small dairy farms are making the switch to organic operations to increase profits and distinguish their products from undifferentiated commodities.
- Earth
Balancing Act: El Niños and dust both affect coral bleaching
Most of the annual variation in the extent of coral bleaching in the Caribbean is driven by two factors: the amount of dust and other particles suspended in the atmosphere, and the climate phenomenon known as El Niño.
- Agriculture
Cow Power
To improve the dire economics of dairying, some farmers are looking to generate commercial quantities of electric power.
- Earth
Farm salmon spread deadly lice
In the Pacific Northwest, sea lice that spread from cultivated salmon to their wild counterparts have become major parasites affecting the wild population.
