Earth

Earth

Toxic metals taint ancient dust

A new study of dust lofted to Antarctica suggests that excess amounts of trace metals coated dust grains long before human industrial activity began loading the atmosphere with pollutants.

Earth

Turbulence leads to early rain of ash

A new aerodynamic analysis suggests that chaotic turbulence in a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash can cause small particles of the ash to clump together and fall to the ground much closer to the volcano than expected.

Earth

Hormones: Here’s the Beef

Runoff of the hormones excreted by steroid-treated livestock could subtly harm aquatic life.

Earth

It’s bottoms up for iron at sea’s surface

Sediments drilled from the seafloor off Antarctica suggest that the dissolved iron in surface waters that fuels much of the region's biological productivity comes from upwelling deep water currents, not from dust blowing off the continents.

Earth

Forest-soil fungi emit gases that harm ozone layer

Laboratory tests reveal for the first time that certain types of common fungi can produce ozone-destroying methyl halide gases.

Earth

Early last month, the iceberg cracked

A huge crack across the floating portion of an Antarctic glacier has cleaved the ice shelf and spawned a new iceberg much more quickly than scientists had expected.

Earth

Charcoal warms the whole world

The techniques used in developing nations to transform wood into charcoal are net emitters of greenhouse gases, even though the wood used to produce the fuel removed globe-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it was growing.

Earth

Fire Retardant Catfish?

It may sound like a barbecue chefs dream: fish that wont catch fire and char when their fat spatters onto overly hot charcoal. But the facts are less appealing. Although many U.S. fish contain fire retardants, they wont protect your grilled fare from burning. In fact, these compounds, which go by the name of polybrominated […]

Earth

Fishy data hid decline in global catch

Many coastal fisheries are in trouble, yet according to figures reported to the United Nations, the annual global yield has appeared to be stable or even growing.

Earth

Transgenes migrate into old races of maize

Genes from bioengineered corn have somehow strayed into the traditional varieties of southern Mexico.

Earth

Dried-up California lake gets muddy facial

A new dust-abatement program is transforming the nation's biggest source of respirable dust into a sea of nonpolluting mud.

Earth

Tough Choices

Federal programs to preserve water in streams during droughts have prompted lawsuits and new pressures on endangered species and the law that protects them.