Earth

Earth

The Long Burn: Warming drove recent upswing in wildfires

Major forest fires in the western United States have become more frequent and destructive over the past two decades, in step with rising average temperatures in the region.

Earth

Underwater landslides tallied near Puerto Rico

An oceanographic survey off the northern coast of Puerto Rico has found remnants of many underwater landslides, a handful of which were large enough to have caused deadly tsunamis.

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Fast-food flies ferry foul fauna

Houseflies buzzing around fast-food restaurants could be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Earth

Asian sediments betray age of nearby desert

Grains of silt embedded in thick sediments of northwestern China may settle a debate about the age of the Taklimakan Desert.

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Dirty Little Secret

Recognition is growing that many communities have soils laced with asbestos, which has prodded several federal agencies to probe the hazards they might pose.

Earth

Toxic Leftovers: Microbes convert flame retardant

Bacteria can break down a common flame retardant into more-toxic forms.

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Something’s fishy about these hormones

Synthetic steroids used to beef up cattle can impair reproduction in female fish and even give them macho physical traits.

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Main source of airborne pollen varies by month

A 15-year study conducted in the New York City area charts how air concentrations of different types of allergy-causing pollen vary throughout an average year.

Earth

Mineral Deposit: Asbestos linked to lupus, arthritis

Already known to cause lung cancer, asbestos has now been associated with three autoimmune diseases.

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Cleaning up pollution, whey down deep

Lab and field tests hint that dairy whey, a lactose-rich by-product of the dairy industry, could be used to clean up underground water supplies tainted by the solvent trichloroethylene.

Earth

Subglacial lakes may not be isolated ecosystems

Large volumes of water may occasionally flow between the lakes that lie deep beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet.

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Gasp! Ozone limits don’t protect babies

In healthy infants, even ozone concentrations well below those allowed by federal law trigger asthmalike symptoms.