Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Pumping groundwater raises sea level
Two new studies flag an underreported factor in global ocean change.
- Life
Climate change miscues may shrink species’ outer limits
Ecological partnerships are getting out of sync especially at high latitudes, a study of hummingbirds suggests.
- Humans
Redefining ‘concern’ over lead
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced May 16 that it would no longer designate any particular blood-lead value in children as representing a “level of concern.” Its justification: There is no threshold below which lead exposures are not a concern.
- Earth
Natural sinks still sopping up carbon
Ecosystems haven’t yet maxed out their ability to absorb fossil fuel emissions, new calculations suggest.
- Life
Climate change may leave many mammals homeless
In some places over the next century, projected warming threatens the survival of more than one in three species.
- Earth
Big Antarctic ice sheet appears doomed
Warming climate is expected to trigger the sudden retreat of a partially floating glacier on the continent’s western side by 2100.
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- Earth
Study keeps pace with Greenland glaciers
Herky-jerky motion of the island’s ice suggests that melting ice is unlikely to contribute to dramatic sea level rise this century, but the news isn’t all good.
- Earth
Oceans’ salinity changed over last half-century
Warmer atmosphere may be to blame for changes in the water cycle.
- Life
Bacteria, insects join forces against pesticide
Microbes in gut, rather than genetic changes, allow insects to develop chemical resistance.
- Earth
Arctic sea emits methane
Source of climate-warming gas remains uncertain, but might be microbes.
- Life
Polar bears older than previously thought
New analysis reveals that the Arctic species dates back to about 600,000 years ago.
