SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Global Warming Already Lowering Crop Yields
A new study published last week in Science finds that the effects of climate change are already evident in farm yields. Among other things, the global production of maize is estimated to be about 3.8 percent lower than it would have been without warming -- the equivalent of Mexico ceasing production of the crop.
In a related story, a U.S. Court of Appeals upheld California's right to enact automotive air pollution standards that are stricter than federal law. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Automobile Dealers Association had opposed the higher standards.
In other climate news, Dallas is poised to become the first urban area in the nation to test a new weather forecasting technique that uses a scattered array of small radar devices rather than one large beacon.
In Japan, workers entered a damaged reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the first time since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the area nearly two months ago. They installed ventilation machines in the reactor, the first step toward replacing the facility's cooling systems.
And study in Nature suggests that the Colorado plateau, long a mystery to geologists, may have risen to its current height thanks to a welling of hot rock from below, "kind of like a lava lamp," according to team leader Alan Levander of Rice University.
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