Earth

  1. Earth

    Sex and the sewage

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

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  2. Earth

    Runaway Heat?

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

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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 […]

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. Earth

    Save the frogs

    Researchers have drafted a proposed $400 million research-and-rescue plan for the world's amphibians, at least half of which are in decline or even facing serious risk of extinction.

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  11. Agriculture

    Wheat Warning—New Rust Could Spread Like Wildfire

    A new, yield-slashing wheat blight has emerged in East Africa and could spread far beyond that part of the world.

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  12. Earth

    Pack Rat Piles: Rodent rubbish provides ice age thermometer

    Analyses of fossilized plant remnants collected by pack rats reveal that the Grand Canyon was much cooler than previously thought during the latter part of the last ice age.

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