Earth

Earth

Roots of Climate: Plants’ water transport cools Amazon basin

Field tests in the Amazon have for the first time measured daily and seasonal movements of soil moisture through the deep roots of trees.

Earth

Antibiotics afield

Antibiotics shed by livestock in manure can end up in crops or bound to soil, where they can foster disease-resistant germs.

Earth

Global Wetting and Drying: Regions face opposing prospects for water supply

In the next half century, rivers and streams in some parts of the world will diminish in flow, while waterways elsewhere rise in output, according to a new analysis of climate simulations.

Earth

Sex and the sewage

Chemicals in sewage sludge appear to have stunted the testes and fostered other reproductive-system changes in fetal lambs.

Earth

Runaway Heat?

A variety of changes in the Arctic is making the region darker and accelerating its warming climate.

Earth

Volcanic Suppression: Major eruptions can reduce sea level

Although scientists have known for years that major volcanic eruptions can temporarily cool Earth's climate, a team now suggests that such outbursts can temporarily cause sea level to drop for a while as well.

Earth

Breaking Waves: Mangroves shielded parts of coast from tsunami

Along a strip of India's southeastern coastline, trees protected certain villages from last December's tsunami, while waves wiped out neighboring settlements that weren't sheltered by vegetation.

Earth

Iceberg Thrills

The Ocean World Web site offers lessons devoted to icebergs, accompanied by dramatic images. Students can learn about the different colors of icebergs, their classification, and their life cycle. The Web site also presents the dangers that icebergs pose to people as well as their potential benefits to desert dwellers. It includes a glossary and […]

Earth

Drought’s heat killed Southwest’s piñon forests

The heat accompanying a drought and a plague of bark beetles seem to explain the deaths of swathes of piñon pine trees across the Southwest in 2002 and 2003.

Earth

The browning of Europe

The lengthy heat wave and drought that struck Europe in the summer of 2003 stifled the growth of vegetation and thereby reduced the amount of carbon dioxide that the continent's plants extracted from the atmosphere.

Earth

Invisible Rivers

The fresh water that seeps from continents into coastal waters via submarine springs is a phenomenon that many scientists are just beginning to appreciate, model, and accurately measure.

Earth

Fertility and Pollution: Dirty air, ozone linked to sperm troubles

Men develop lower sperm counts and produce more sperm with fragmented DNA when the air has higher levels of ozone and other pollutants.