“March 2012 set records for warm temperatures that promoted early leafing and flowering across large areas of the United States.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
When natural gas prices rise heating a home with gas becomes more expensive. Many other activities become more expensive. One concern about exporting natural gas is that lots of people (and industries) will see their expenses go up. An article on the Christian Science Monitor website explores who will see higher prices.
AccuWeather.com has an article about a subdivision in Lakeport, California where a landslide moving at a rate of inches per day is tearing homes apart.
“Invasive “crazy ants” are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States. [...] It’s the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region.” Quoted from The University of Texas at Austin press release.
This video compresses a two month view from the bow of an ice breaker travelling through the Ross Sea of Antarctica into less then five minutes. Watch for the wildlife surprise at the end.
An article on NationalGeographic.com explains how the popularity of “climbing Everest” has resulted in inexperienced climbers creating traffic jams on the mountain and littering the landscape. Ways to reverse this are explored.
Five copper coins about 1000 years old found on a beach by an Australian soldier during WWII may be strong evidence that ships from distant lands reached Australia hundreds of years earlier than what is written in history books.
Smithsonian.com has an article about Japan’s Orphan Tsunami (“orphan” because it was then unlinked to any earthquake) and how it was connected to an earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
An article in the Salt Lake City Tribune compares the landslide at the Bingham Canyon copper mine to other large landslides that have occurred during recorded history.
“For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. [...] They’ve just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the program.”
“A new study by scientists at Duke University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finds no evidence of groundwater contamination from shale gas production in Arkansas.” Quoted from the Duke University press release.
“While 99 percent of Earth’s land ice is locked up in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the remaining ice in the world’s glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009.” Quoted from the University of Colorado Boulder press release.
The Indiana Geological Survey is helping students (and news reporters) learn about the earthquake history of Indiana and experience simulated ground shaking of up to magnitude 7.0.
Since 1972 the “Roadside Geology” series has provided introductory information on the geology of states and small regions of the United States.
The books provide a combination of maps, travel logs, photos and commentary for the geology that can be seen along highways or visited at parks and public viewing areas. They are popular with geologists, teachers, students and others who are interested in the Earth.
“Mount St. Helens seized the world’s attention in 1980 when the largest historical landslide on Earth and a powerful explosive eruption reshaped the volcano, created its distinctive crater, and dramatically modified the surrounding landscape.” Quoted from the USGS Fact Sheet titled…. Mount St. Helens, 1980 to Now—What’s Going On?
USGS has redesigned their PDF topo maps! Just released are complete map sets for Tennessee (694 maps) and Kentucky (671 maps) with more states coming soon (Alaska and Hawaii).
These maps are beautiful. If you want to see a sample we have Mammoth Cave, Kentucky unzipped and ready for you to download – but be warned that it is a really big file (30 megs) and will take quite a while to download – but well worth the wait…
If you have Adobe Reader or equivalent software, click here, get the download started, go for coffee, come back to a great map. Be sure to zoom in to see the great detail.
The UK is the largest producer of oil and the second largest producer of natural gas in the European Union; however, they still are a net importer of both of these fuels.
Research at the University of Southampton determined that the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull supplied dissolved iron to a large area of the North Atlantic. This stimulated photoplankton growth but the abundance of iron caused the rapid removal of biological nitrate which applied a throttle on the phytoplankton.
NOAA has published a Google Map that displays near-real-time coastal water temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit for hundreds of locations around the United States.
“Warmer spring temperatures since 1980 are causing an estimated 20 percent loss of snow cover across the Rocky Mountains of western North America. [...] Runoff from Rocky Mountain winter snowpack accounts for 60 to 80 percent of the annual water supply for more than 70 million people living in the western U.S.
Researchers have discovered evidence of life 500 meters below the seafloor of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. “They found genetic evidence of Methanosarcinales, anaerobic archaea known to metabolize methane. Further experiments showed that microbes have affected the chemical signature of sulfur in the host basalt, suggesting they could harness energy from the breakdown of sulfates.” Quoted from the Deep Carbon Observatory press release.
Exactly where the extra methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is coming from in Los Angeles has finally been identified. [...] The research explains why the estimates of methane given off by various sources are 35 percent lower than the levels that have actually been measured in the atmosphere.
Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here.
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Homeowners Insurance usually does not cover damage caused by floods, landslides, earthquakes and other geohazards.
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