Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Landfills Make Mercury More Toxic
Landfill disposal of mercury-containing products can chemically transform the pollutant not only to make it more potent but also to foster its release into air.
- Earth
A foamy threat to ozone
Shredding the foam insulation in discarded refrigerators can release significant quantities of chlorofluorocarbons, which pose a threat to Earth's protective ozone layer.
- Earth
Blood points to pollution’s heart risks
As airborne concentrations of fine dust particles climb, so do three blood factors that increase an individual's heart attack risk.
- Earth
Ozone flares with fireworks festivities
Holiday fireworks and sparklers trigger ozone-generating chemical reactions in the lower atmosphere.
- Earth
Alaska’s coastal permafrost is eroding
Aerial photographs taken over the past 50 years show that Alaska's coastlines of permafrost aren't that permanent after all.
- Earth
More acid rain in East Asia’s future
Large increases in Asian industrial emissions of nitrogen oxides in the next 30 years could lead to a tripling of the acid rain there due to those pollutants.
- Earth
Midlatitude bogs store carbon best
Sediments in lakes and bogs along the eastern coast of the United States show that midlatitude bodies of water have sequestered higher amounts of carbon than others since the last ice age.
- Earth
Seismic simulations help track tanks
New computer models developed to analyze how seismic vibrations travel through uneven terrain can also be used to identify and track heavy vehicles such as tanks and trains.
- Earth
Large earthquake would ravage Oregon
A magnitude 8.5 earthquake off the coast of Oregon would devastate portions of the state, kill thousands of residents, and wrack the economy there for more than a decade.
- Earth
Memory problems linked to PCBs in fish
Adult exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, from eating tainted fish, correlate with lower scores on learning and memorization tasks.
- Earth
New test traces underground forest carbon
An unusual method of studying soil respiration by girdling trees may clear up several vital mysteries in the way carbon cycles through forests.
- Earth
Global Warming Debate Gets Hotter
President Bush gets the global warming report he commissioned just days before he meets with European leaders.
