Earth

  1. Earth

    Plants seen as unpredictable carbon sponge

    Changing land-use practices—especially in forests, croplands, and fallow areas—appear to play a far bigger role than anticipated in determining how much carbon gets removed from the air by vegetation.

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  2. Earth

    Hey polluters! This billboard’s for you

    Motorists generally like and respond to personalized billboard messages about when an engine tune-up may be warranted.

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  3. Earth

    Pollution Keeps Rain up in the Air

    New satellite data indicate that aerosol pollution can break up water droplets in clouds and stop rain.

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  4. Agriculture

    Afghanistan’s Seed Banks Destroyed

    On Sept. 10, scientists in Kabul reported the loss of Afghanistan’s principal agricultural insurance policy: two stores of carefully collected seeds, materials selected to represent the genetic diversity of native crops. Here, some of the wheat seed brought into the country by a convoy, this spring, is being stored pending redistribution to Afghan farmers. USAID […]

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  5. Agriculture

    Sprawling over croplands

    Satellite imagery indicates that sprawling urban development has been disproportionately gobbling up those lands best able to support crops.

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  6. Earth

    Chinese records show typhoon cycles

    Historical records compiled by local governments along China's southeastern coast during the past 1,000 years suggest that there's a 50-year cycle in the annual number of typhoons that strike the area.

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  7. Earth

    Cave formations yield seismic clues

    Analyses of toppled stalagmites and other fallen rock formations in two Israeli caves may provide hints about the rate of ancient earthquakes in the area.

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  8. Earth

    Recent heat may indicate faster warming

    A new analysis of temperature records indicates that global warming may be picking up its pace.

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  9. Earth

    Uncertainty returns over sex-change fish

    Scientists question whether a potentially gender-bending hormone found in polluted Florida streams is responsible for masculinized female fish.

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  10. Earth

    Climate’s Long-Lost Twin

    New geological evidence suggests that humans have started exploiting fossil fuels and altering Earth's atmosphere at precisely the moment when greenhouse gases could do the most damage to climate.

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  11. Earth

    Global Impact: Space object may have spread debris worldwide

    Sediments laid down about 3.47 billion years ago in what are now western Australia and eastern South Africa contain remnants of what may have been an extraterrestrial-object impact large enough to disperse debris over the entire planet.

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  12. 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.

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