Earth

Earth

Early Shift: North Sea plankton and fish move out of sync

As ocean temperatures in the North Sea have warmed in recent decades, the life cycles of some species low in the food chain have accelerated significantly, sometimes wreaking ecological havoc.

Agriculture

Bees increase coffee profits

Scientists studying a Costa Rican coffee farm have estimated the monetary value of conserving nearby wooded habitat for the bees that pollinate coffee plants.

Earth

Protecting Baby: Calcium in pregnancy reduces lead exposure

By taking calcium supplements during pregnancy, a mother can significantly reduce the lead exposure of her fetus.

Earth

Infectious stowaways

A new study finds that ballast water can move huge quantities of cholera germs and other microbes between ports around the globe.

Earth

Problems with eradicating polio

The oral vaccine's live but attenuated virus may in rare cases revert to the disease-causing form, which can then turn up in natural waters even in regions now certified free of the wild-type virus.

Earth

Twin satellites track water’s rise and fall

A pair of satellites launched in 2002 has detected small, regional changes in Earth's gravitational field that are caused by seasonal variations in rainfall and soil moisture.

Earth

Hurricane Season

The U.S. Geological Survey offers a Web site devoted to the impact of hurricanes and extreme storms on coastal regions of the United States. Historical information reviews the effects of such hurricanes as 2003’s Isabel and 1996’s Fran. Another section looks at erosion along the U.S. West coast caused by El Niño-induced changes. The site […]

Earth

PCBs can taint building caulk

Long-banned, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls in some building caulk applied in the 1960s and 1970s may still pose an exposure risk.

Earth

Parting Shots

Data collected during an 18-day barrage of major solar flares late last year—including a record-setting coronal mass ejection on Nov. 4—will help scientists refine models of flare formation and behavior.

Earth

Dangerous Dust? Chemicals in plastics are tied to allergies

Elevated risks for developing multiple allergies, including asthma, eczema, and rhinitis, appear to be associated with household exposure to synthetic chemicals called phthalates.

Earth

Quick Bite: Some gorges carved surprisingly fast

Analyses of rock samples from two river gorges along the Atlantic seaboard suggest that the largest parts of those chasms were carved during a geologically short period at the height of the last ice age.

Earth

Skin proves poor portal for arsenic in treated wood

Direct contact with old-style pressure-treated lumber should pose little risk that arsenic will penetrate the skin.