Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2006

Diarrhea Hits the Road

The construction of highways in northern Ecuador did more than open up access to once-isolated villages. It also created a new network for diarrheal pathogens to travel on, highlighting how human-influenced habitat changes could impact public health, a new study concludes. In 1996, the government of Ecuador started building roads...

Nov 30, 2006

Clue Found in Mystery of How Raindrops Form

How clouds Now with a Knowing how Until Floating As water To balloon Past One way to Let it For With no They found But that ...

Nov 30, 2006

Al Gore Urges Scientists to Speak Out on Climate Change

SAN FRANCISCO—Former Vice President Al Gore said here today that he would become a member of the American Geophysical Union, a sign of his dedication not only to protecting the environment but also his belief that science is vital when it comes to decisions impacting the fate of the planet....

Nov 30, 2006

Study: Less Acid Rain Not Always So Great

Acid rainfall in the Appalachian Mountains has decreased in recent years and organisms in its streams are thriving. But the environmental comeback could be creating new problems of its own, scientists say. A drop in nitric and sulfuric acid levels in the streams is changing biological activity in the ecosystem...

Nov 30, 2006

How to Super-Size a Volcanic Eruption

SAN FRANCISCO--Super eruptions that blast loads of ash sky high can change the climate. Now scientists are finding that the relationship could go both ways with the climate having an impact on huge volcanic eruptions. A bone-dry climate, which occurs in periods between ice ages, could make conditions just right...

Oct 31, 2006

Global Warming Could Trigger Insect Population Boom

A rise in the Earth's temperature could lead to an increase in the number of insects worldwide, with potentially dire consequences for humans, a new study suggests. New research shows that insect species living in warmer areas are more likely to undergo rapid population growth because they have higher metabolic...

Oct 31, 2006

Life's Origin's a Gas

Life on Earth emerged out of thin air, scientists now say. By mimicking in a lab the gases that could have been present on early Earth, researchers have concluded that a layer of haze blanketing our planet produced organic material that helped living organisms develop. The haze, they found, resembles...

Oct 31, 2006

Faraway Volcanoes Shrunk the Mighty Nile

Volcanic eruptions on Iceland generated a cascade of events that led to record low levels of water in the Nile River in Africa and brought famine to the region more than two centuries ago, a new study concludes. The findings will inform climate forecasting related to future volcanic activity. From...

Sep 30, 2006

Wave of Destruction: Asian Tsunami Disaster

Kalutara, Sri Lanka (Before) (Image credit: Digital Globe)This image shows the area detail of the coast of Kalutara, Sri Lanka prior to the Tsunami disaster. This before photograph was taken almost a year earlier, on January 1, 2004. Map Overview: Earthquake Spawns Tsunamis (Image credit: USGS)The Earth’s solid surface floats...

Sep 30, 2006

Waves from Top of the World Destroy Huge Iceberg at Bottom

On a calm, clear day in October 2005, a huge Antarctic iceberg broke into half a dozen pieces. Today, scientists said the event was triggered by ocean swells kicked up during an Alaskan storm—half a world away. At 60 miles long and 18.5 miles wide, the iceberg called B15A was...

Sep 30, 2006

Maine Quake Causes Dramatic Drop in Well Water Level

A minor earthquake that shook parts of Maine at 8:07 p.m. local time Monday caused water to drop 2.5 feet at a U.S. Geological Survey monitoring well. Nearly 17 hours later, the water level was still dropping, scientists announced today. Hydrologists call the change in the well “dramatic,” and said...

Sep 30, 2006

10 Surprising Ways Weather Has Changed History

How Weather Changed History The NASA GOES-13 satellite captured a snapshot of three tropical storms (and a tropical wave) on July 22. Hurricane Dora is in the Pacific, while Bret and Cindy whirl in the Atlantic. Low #1, a tropical wave, has brought rain to parts of the Caribbean. None...

Sep 30, 2006

Life's Cradle Also a Living Museum

The tropics are where new species begin and older species continue to live, according to a new study that settles a long-running debate. I think we've killed the idea that the tropics is either a cradle or a museum of biodiversity,” said study co-author James W. Valentine, professor emeritus of...

Sep 30, 2006

Report: American West Faces Dire Future

Without action to reduce carbon emissions, global warming will dramatically alter the Western U.S. landscape, according to a nongovernmental report released Thursday by the National Wildlife Federation. America's addiction to fossil fuels is coming at an enormous price, one that threatens not only people but the fish, wildlife and ecosystems...

Sep 30, 2006

Alaskan Lakes Dry Up

More than 10,000 Alaskan lakes have dried up or shrunk in size in a span of 52 years, scientists reported today. Between 1950 and 2002, Alaska experienced longer growing seasons, increased thawing of permafrost, and greater water loss from evaporation of open waters. All of these changes, along with the...