Earth

Earth

2002’s tornado tally well below average

As of August 1, barely half the usual number of tornadoes had struck the lower 48 states of the United States.

Earth

Cigarette smoke can harm kitty, too

Compared with animals living in smokefree homes, cats who lived for some time with a smoker at least doubled their risk of developing the feline analog of the cancer non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Earth

Nature’s Own: Ocean yields gases that had seemed humanmade

Chemical analyses of seawater provide the first direct evidence that the ocean may be a significant source of certain atmospheric gases that scientists had previously assumed to be produced primarily by industrial activity.

Earth

Killer Cocktails: Drug mixes threaten aquatic ecosystems

Trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs in waterways may work together to deform and kill native microscopic organisms.

Earth

El Niño: It’s back!

An increase in ocean temperatures in the central Pacific heralds the onset of El Niño, whose effects should show up in the United States this fall.

Earth

Just how much do U.S. roads matter?

A Harvard researcher calculates that roads directly influence the ecology of a fifth of U.S. land area.

Earth

DDT treatment turns male fish into mothers

Injecting into fish eggs an estrogen-mimicking form of the pesticide DDT transforms genetically male medaka fish into apparent females able to lay eggs that produce young.

Earth

Long, Dry Spells: Lengthy droughts tied to long-lived La Niñas

A new study of persistent droughts that occurred in the United States during the past 3 centuries suggests that those dry spells may be associated with prolonged periods when sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific were cooler than average.

Earth

West Coast Shimmy: Smack from space triggered landslides along Pacific Coast

Scientists say they've found the first evidence along the Pacific Coast of massive landslides triggered by the impact from space 65 million years ago that's suspected to have wiped out the dinosaurs.

Earth

Study links dioxin to breast cancer

A new study finds support for the long-proposed hypothesis that dioxin, a hormonelike pollutant, can trigger breast cancer in heavily exposed women.

Earth

Monsoon Warning: Data hint at wet and blustery future

Asian monsoons have been intensifying over the last 400 years, and they're slated to get worse.

Earth

A Stinging Forecast: Model predicts chance of encountering jellyfish

Weather forecasters usually prognosticate precipitation, pollen, and poor air quality, but in some areas, they could soon provide beachgoers with the probability of confronting a jellyfish.