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摘要

Earth's oldest trees are experiencing a growth spurt. A tree ring study suggests the Great Basin bristlecone pines of the western US have grown faster in the past 50 years than they have in 3.7 millennia because of rising temperatures (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903029106).rnSomething else has got bigger in recent years: Russia's landmass. Geologists say an earthquake on Sakhalin Island in 2007 and a volcanic eruption on Matua Island in 2009 increased the nation's size by 4.5 square kilometres. The earthquake lifted part of the sea floor and turned it into dry land.