Earth

Earth

Seismic noise can yield maps of Earth’s crust

The small, random, and nearly constant seismic waves that travel in all directions through Earth's crust can be used to make ultrasoundlike images of geologic features within the crust.

Earth

. . . and churn up big waves, too

As Hurricane Ivan approached the U.S. Gulf Coast last September, sensors detected the largest wave ever measured by instruments.

Earth

A hurricane can dump a lot of rain . . .

Hurricanes can drop enormous amounts of precipitation in a short amount of time, a phenomenon that residents of Puerto Rico experienced in spades when Hurricane Georges struck the island in 1998.

Earth

Sustainable Resource Use

This British Web site provides educational material about the sustainable use of resources, including water, waste management, textiles, and timber. It provides puzzles, experiments, worksheets, and lesson plans, with links to a wide range of environmental information. Go to: http://www.e4s.org.uk/

Earth

Gender Measure: Pollutant appears to alter boys’ genitals

Infant boys who were exposed in the womb to modest concentrations of certain common plasticizers and solvents developed genital changes.

Earth

Last Gasp: Toxic gas could explain great extinction

Sudden venting of hydrogen sulfide from the deep sea could have caused the largest extinction in Earth's history by poisoning land animals and destroying atmospheric ozone that protects Earth from ultraviolet light.

Earth

Muddy Waters

Even though human activities such as agriculture and deforestation are sending more sediment into streams and rivers, less of that material is reaching river deltas, a trend that exacerbates problems such as subsidence and coastal erosion.

Earth

School buses spew pollution into young lungs

Children riding on school buses inhale heavy doses of diesel fumes, and reducing these emissions could be a cost-effective means of improving their health, a new study suggests.

Earth

Portrait of destruction

A new simulation suggests where the most damaging ground motions would occur if a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the San Andreas fault east of Los Angeles.

Earth

Air pollution linked to wheat diseases

The abundance of the air pollutant sulfur dioxide appears to influence which of two fungal pathogens plague more wheat plants.

Earth

Mind the Gap: Inadequate monitoring at many U.S. volcanoes

A report just released by the U.S. Geological Survey ranks the threats posed by the nation's volcanoes.

Earth

Nanowaste: Predicting the environmental fate of buckyballs

The potentially harmful effects of buckyballs in aquatic environments could vary depending on the chemistry of the water.