Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Climate
‘Tree farts’ contribute about a fifth of greenhouse gases from ghost forests
Greenhouse gases from dead trees play an important role in the overall environmental impact of ghost forests, a new study suggests.
- Climate
‘Zombie’ forest fires may become more common with climate change
Wildfires that survive winter underground can flare up after warm summers and account for more than one-third of the scorched ground in some regions.
- Climate
Climate change disinformation is evolving. So are efforts to fight back
Researchers discuss effective ways to counter the changing tactics of climate denial.
- Animals
The U.S.’s first open-air genetically modified mosquitoes have taken flight
After a decade of argument, Oxitec pits genetically modified mosquitoes against Florida’s spreaders of dengue and Zika.
- Climate
Rivers might not be as resilient to drought as once thought
Seven years after Australia’s Millennium drought, water flow in many rivers isn’t returning to predrought levels.
- Animals
A common antibiotic slows a mysterious coral disease
Applying the antibiotic amoxicillin to infected lesions halted tissue death in corals for at least 11 months after treatment.
- Climate
Mangrove forests on the Yucatan Peninsula store record amounts of carbon
Dense tangles of roots and natural water-filled sinkholes join forces to stockpile as much as 2,800 metric tons of carbon per hectare in the soil.
- Microbes
These climate-friendly microbes recycle carbon without producing methane
A newly discovered group of single-celled archaea break down decaying plants without adding the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere.
- Agriculture
Nanoscale nutrients can protect plants from fungal diseases
Applied to the shoots, nutrients served in tiny metallic packages are absorbed more efficiently, strengthening plants’ defenses against fungal attack.
- Earth
Lightning may be an important source of air-cleaning chemicals
Airplane observations show that thunderstorms can directly generate vast quantities of atmosphere-cleansing chemicals called oxidants.
- Climate
Climate change may have changed the direction of the North Pole’s drift
A mid-1990s shift in the movement of the pole was driven by glacial melt, in part caused by climate change, among other factors, a new study reports.
- Chemistry
A new technique could make some plastic trash compostable at home
Embedding enzymes inside biodegradable plastics makes them truly compostable, which could mitigate the plastic waste problem.
