Earth
- Earth
Sea Change: Carbon dioxide imperils marine ecosystems
Almost half the carbon dioxide produced by human activity in the past 2 centuries is now dissolved in the oceans, resulting in chemical changes that, if unchecked, could threaten some marine ecosystems.
- Earth
Bacteria found to release arsenic into groundwater
Arsenic gets into groundwater largely through the action of bacteria residing in aquifer sediments.
- Earth
Treaty enacted to preserve crop biodiversity
The United Nations enacted a new international treaty to halt the erosion of genetic diversity of crops.
- Earth
City Heat: Urban areas’ warmth affects plant growth
Satellite observations of eastern North America show that plants in and around urban areas bud earlier in the spring and retain their foliage later in the fall than do plants in nearby rural settings.
- Agriculture
Plastic vs. Plants: Mulch method changes tomato’s gene activity
A suite of at least 10 genes in a tomato plant behaves differently depending on the farmer's mulch-and-fertilizer routine.
- Earth
Just a Tad Is Too Much: Less is worse for tadpoles exposed to chemicals
The herbicide atrazine is more likely to kill developing amphibians when it is highly diluted than when it's much more concentrated in aquatic environments.
- Earth
Warmer climate, decreased rice yield
Agricultural data gathered over a dozen years at a Philippines rice paddy suggest that climate changes brought about by global warming could significantly diminish rice yields.
- Agriculture
A Maize-ing Travels
Corn, an American native, has taken root the world over and is becoming increasingly important to agriculture in nations beyond the West.
- Earth
Sky Lights
Devoted to atmospheric optics, this Web site offers beautifully illustrated explanations of spectacular phenomena ranging from rainbows to ice haloes. Created by physicist Les Cowley, it features amazing images, along with explanations of how the imaged effects were created by nature. The ice halo section offers downloadable software for simulating various types of halos. Go […]
- Earth
Sprawl’s aquatic pollution
A new study links the traffic associated with urban sprawl to an unexpectedly large rain of air pollutants entering local waters.
- Earth
New database describes all the marbles
Analyses of the isotope ratios of carbon and oxygen in hundreds of samples of Greek marble may help researchers identify the quarries that supplied the stone for some of Europe's most famous statues and architecture.
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