Encyclopedia of Earth
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Earth, an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is a free, expert-reviewed collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other's work. The articles are written in non-technical language and are useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.
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Featured Article
What’s in Yellowstone’s Future?
Steam Explosions, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions—What’s in Yellowstone’s Future? Yellowstone, one of the world’s largest...
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Featured Article
Cats, Toxoplasma, and Schizophrenia
In humans, acute infection withToxoplasmosis can produce psychotic symptoms similar to those displayed by persons with schizophrenia. This article written by E. Fuller Torrey and Robert H. Yolken*,...
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Featured Article
Phrynocephalus
Phrynocephalus (Toad Headed Agamas) is the genus of Agamid lizards first described by Kaup in 1825. It includes over 40 species of small and medium sized lizards characteristic of arid regions of...
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Featured Article
Plants and Healthy Indoor Air
Poor indoor air quality has been linked to health problems. This article, written by Dr. Luz Claudio*, appeared first in Environmental Health Perspectives—the peer-reviewed, open access journal...
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Featured Article
Drosera rotundifolia
Drosera rotundifolia is an insectivorous plant that occurs in marshes, bogs and fens in a circumboreal distribution; common names for this species are Roundleaf Sundew or Common Sundew. This...
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Featured Article
Belarus
Belarus is a landlocked nation of nine-and-a-half million people in eastern Europe between Poland (to the west) and Russia (to the east) and between Latvia and Lithuania (to the north) and Ukraine...
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Featured Article
Cleaner Cook Stoves, Better Health
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Disease. This article, written by Tina Adler*, appeared first in Environmental Health Perspectives—the peer-reviewed, open access journal of the...
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Featured Article
Douglas-fir
The Douglas-fir (scientific name: Pseudotsuga) is a genus of tree that includes ar least five species found in North America and Asia: ...
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Featured Article
Tristan da Cunha
The Tristan da Cunha Island Group (37° 06' S, 12° 18' W) is an archipelago of five volcanic islands resting on the east slope of the mid-Atlantic ridge, midway between Africa and...
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Featured Article
Living in a contaminated world
Humankind is now in its third generation since the chemical revolution—circa 1940. The myriad dimensions and implications of this worldwide phenomenon and its actual and potential consequences...
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Featured Event
January: Radon Action Month
EPA Advice for National Radon Action Month: Test for Radon Gas to Protect Health 21,000 Americans die from radon related lung cancer each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...
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Featured Event
2 February: World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day 2 February each year is World Wetlands Day (WWD). This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the...
Featured Resource
2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
International Year of Sustainable Energy for All: 2012 On 16 February 2011, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Resolution (A/RES/65/151) declaring Year 2012 to be the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. In that...
Latest News
National Ocean Policy Action Plan
National Ocean Policy Action Plan draft requests public comments on actions Federal agencies will take to improve the health of oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes. Federal Government Releases...
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Articles
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, several scientists suggested that the continental masses had the ability...
Commensalism is an ecological relationship, in which one species benefits from an association with another org...
Overview Dugongs were once common throughout the shallow coastal waters of East Malaysia (northeast ...
A single fragrance in a product can contain a mixture of hundreds of chemicals, some of which react with ozone...
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z A back to top Aunger, Robert. 2010. Types of...
Introduction Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the processes and phenomena of Earth...
Introduction A herbivore is an animal that obtains its energy and nutrients by feeding on plants. Differen...
News Articles
Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, notes in SciDev.Net on 5 January 2012 th...
NOAA seeks comment on draft environmental impact statement on Arctic oil and gas exploration NOAA is see...
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Call for Public Input on Early Restoration of the Gul...
In December, a high-speed robotic screening system, aimed at protecting human health by improving how chemical...
NASA Finds 2011 Ninth Warmest Year on Record The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth ...
Feeding the world while protecting the planet International team of researchers designs global plan for susta...
A previously un-named species of horse fly whose appearance is dominated by its glamorous golden lower abdomen...
Resources
International Year of Sustainable Energy for All: 2012 On 16 February 2011, the General Assembly of the Unite...
World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event thatis aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated ...
International Year of Chemistry 2011 The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is a worldwide cele...
SUMMARY Oil and Water: The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 was developed and taught by Robert Gilmer. It was offered ...- SUMMARY NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration prepared this job aid as a field guide for people who have ...
- SUMMARY An important step in oil spill response is to assess the character and extent of oil spilled on the w...
- SUMMARY When oil contaminates shoreline habitats, responders must survey the affected areas to determine how ...
Galleries
The practice of science depends on the availability, and reliability, of a wide spectrum of tools. We are fami...
Photos submitted by Donald Blake, University of California, Irvine. Images by NOAA P-3, taken July 2010....
A gallery featuring photos of some of the world's largest oil spills, along with a little information about ea...
Photo examples of dispersant application platforms, application results, and marine mammals that must be ident...
Agriculture Gallery II Humans began to cultivate food crops about 10,000 years ago. Prior to that time, hun...
Videos
Taken from Young Voices for the Planet, Olivia's Birds and the Oil Spill documents 11-year old Olivia Bouler'...- Workers continue to pick up tar balls on the Gulf shore's beaches one year after the BP oil spill. Although ...
- The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has impacted condominium rentals and other tourism related business along ...
- Early Show contributor Debbye Turner Bell reports on the animals in the Gulf of Mexico one year after the larg...
- Since the Deepwater BP oil spill in April 2010, scientists have been collecting thousands of plant, animal, so...
- With the one year anniversary of the BP oil spill disaster approaching, Peter Greenberg spoke with Russ Mitche...
- Reports of declining oil production has stirred debates, amid fears/hopes of the consequences. ...
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