Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Glacial Change: Greenland’s ice loss doubled in 2005
A host of observations suggests that Greenland's ice sheet diminished this year at a rate more than twice that seen just a few years ago.
- Earth
Microbe polishes off pollutant
Researchers have determined how long a pesticide residue would remain in the environment if the microbe Pseudomonas pavonaceae didn't metabolize it.
- Earth
Changes in the Air
Changes in the atmospheric concentration of oxygen through geologic time, some gradual and some drastic, have strongly shaped evolution among many types of creatures.
- Earth
Is Teddy a pollution magnet?
Stuffed toys can accumulate high concentrations of potentially toxic air pollutants.
- Earth
Elevated pesticide threatens amphibians
The survival of certain mountain-dwelling amphibians may be threatened by toxic pesticides that are blown uphill from distant agricultural lands in California's Central Valley.
- Agriculture
Organic Doesn’t Mean Free of Pesticides
Even organic produce, especially root crops, can carry trace residues of long-banned pesticides.
- Earth
Nonstick Taints: Fluorochemicals are in us all
A new federal study strongly suggests that all U.S. residents harbor measurable traces of fluorochemicals, compounds found in a host of consumer products.
- Earth
Roots of Climate: Plants’ water transport cools Amazon basin
Field tests in the Amazon have for the first time measured daily and seasonal movements of soil moisture through the deep roots of trees.
- Earth
Antibiotics afield
Antibiotics shed by livestock in manure can end up in crops or bound to soil, where they can foster disease-resistant germs.
- Earth
Global Wetting and Drying: Regions face opposing prospects for water supply
In the next half century, rivers and streams in some parts of the world will diminish in flow, while waterways elsewhere rise in output, according to a new analysis of climate simulations.
- Earth
Sex and the sewage
Chemicals in sewage sludge appear to have stunted the testes and fostered other reproductive-system changes in fetal lambs.
- Earth
Runaway Heat?
A variety of changes in the Arctic is making the region darker and accelerating its warming climate.
