Wind-borne pollutants may travel thousands of miles
...hlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are transported in the atmosphere to Galveston and Corpus Christi bays and removed b... gaseous water pollutants could evaporate into the atmosphere instead of staying in the ocean. In both cases, the airborne pollutants could lead to deposition of ...Survival tactics in bacteria - environmental conditions fit for mankind
...ce - both for creating the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere that allowed the evolution of humans and maintaining them to this day. Professor Jim Barber, senior author of the paper and head of the Photosynthesis Research Group says: "This is a staggering finding. It is the first time that an antenna ring of ch...Mercury at bottom of central park lake linked to coal burning in NYC
...ates emit an estimated 52 tons of mercury into the atmosphere per year. The EPA believes a plausible link exists between the emission of mercury from coal-fired utilities and the amount of mercury found in the air, soil, and water. The ingestion of fish contaminated with mercury is thought to play an important ......increasing the percentage of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere and decreasing the percentage of carbon dioxide, a...he plants conceivably boosted oxygen levels in the atmosphere high enough for animals to develop skeletons, grow larger, and diversify." Lichens are believed to...New source of natural fertilizer discovered in oceans
... that fixes nitrogen, converting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form other organisms can use. The researchers reported their findings in the August 9 issue of the journal Nature. Zehr has also found evidence that many additional kinds of nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in the open ocean. "This discovery po...Scientists discover new source of natural fertilizer in oceans
... that fixes nitrogen, converting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form other organisms can use. Although nitrogen accounts for nearly 80 percent of the Earth's atmosphere, most organisms can use it only when it is "fixed" to other elements, to make compounds like ammonia or nitrate. As a component of protein......al pump," a process that transfers carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. Data for the Nature study were derived from an intensive field study conducted in the center of a gyre, a closed ocean circulation system, in the Norwegian Sea north of the British Isles and east of Iceland at a destination calle...Scientists map the complete genome of an important agricultural bacterium
...s, despite its abundance: Nearly 80 percent of the atmosphere consists of nitrogen gas, which unlike oxygen cannot be absorbed by most living organisms.Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the ground chemically convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia a nitrogen-based compound that plants can use to produce proteins...Chemicals in frying pan a potential hazard to environment
... gases. Unlike CFCs, these gases break down in the atmosphere and return to Earth in the form of rainwater. Howe...r material releases small amounts of CFCs into the atmosphere which can contribute to ozone depletion....Top environment scientist calls for early warning system for global change.
... Arctic Ocean is thinning and the chemistry of the atmosphere is changing. Scientists fear that the future may see the occurrence of more damaging disturbances, such as wildfires, as the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems alter. 'An Earth observation network - a type of early warning system for planetary change - i...MSU study finds new microbial source of nitrogen fixation
...ion, the process that converts the nitrogen in the atmosphere into a form that is used by all life on Earth. In a paper published in the June 29 issue of the journal Science, MSU microbiologist John Breznak and colleagues report that spirochetes - corkscrew-shaped bacteria that are found practically everywhere ...Amazon rainforest could be unsustainable within a decade
...y forest holds onto the rain and returns it to the atmosphere so it can be recycled -- a process called evapotranspiration. Without a healthy base of vegetation, water runoff occurs at a higher rate, and it creates the potential for a highly unstable rainforest system. There are those who espouse preservi......als, which in turn removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as Ca and Mg became locked together with carbonate...in the worlds oceans. The removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by this method and by increased photosynthesis (fixation) led to atmospheric CO2 stabilising at lowe...Researchers identify protein important for beginning gene-activation process
...hemistry at Penn State, created a vibrant research atmosphere as the group worked to understand how the gene-activation process functions under normal conditions in order to provide a baseline of understanding for situations of abnormal cancerous activity. Identifying Tra1 as the target protein that genes r......ane. The methylated mercury is then emitted to the atmosphere along with untreated methane in the form of dimethylmercury, which can be deposited to the environment. Researchers believe this could help explain the elevated levels of methylmercury detected in rain at remote lakes in the upper midwest. Mercury, a...Refrigerator disposal releases ozone-depleting chemicals
...ing chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, into the earth's atmosphere — and the more finely shredded the foam, the...tion stimulated by sunlight. The upper part of the atmosphere known as the stratosphere contains approximately 3 billion kilograms of ozone — enough to crea...Biologists discover protein's impace on plant-water balance
... the plant gives off water vapor and oxygen to the atmosphere and takes in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Guard cells thereby moderate the amount of water and carbon dioxide in the plants. Researchers Sarah M. Assmann, professor of biology at Penn State, and Xi-Qing Wang, a postdoctoral scholar at Penn St...Microbes and the dust they ride in on pose potential health risks
...icles in the arid topsoil, is transported into the atmosphere by winds and may be carried more than 10,000 feet high into the atmosphere by easterly trade winds. Typically, it takes 5 to 7 days for the dust clouds to cross the Atlantic O...Scientists share multidisciplinary discoveries at 'Earth System Processes'
...Institute, will build on the idea that the Archean atmosphere was dominated by methane as the primary greenhouse...pe to space was inescapable and oxygenation of the atmosphere was irreversible. Christian J. Bjerrum, Danish Center for Earth System Science at the University of...... the mid 1970s. The impact on the chemistry of the atmosphere would have been profound, and the consequences for...t Century will see changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere as a result of human activities. What can be done to ensure we have clean air to breathe? Mega-citie...