Recent research on Ubehebe Crater of California’s Death Valley reveals that it last erupted about 800 years ago instead of the previously-believed date of several thousand years ago. Erik Klementti comments on this new date.
“Eight months of ceaseless activity have covered the landscape around Chile’s Puyehue Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex in ash. The light-colored ash appears most clearly on the rocky, alpine slopes surrounding the active vent and Puyehue’s 2,236 meter (7,336 foot)-tall caldera.” Quote from the Earth Observatory image release.
Uranium consumption currently exceeds production by over 70 million pounds per year and the source that currently supplies overconsumption will deplete in the next few years.
NASA’s GRAIL mission has beamed back its first video of the far side of the moon. The imagery was taken on Jan. 19 by the MoonKAM aboard the mission’s “Ebb” spacecraft.
“According to NOAA scientists, 2011 was a record-breaking year for climate extremes, as much of the United States faced historic levels of heat, precipitation, flooding and severe weather, while La Niña events at both ends of the year impacted weather patterns at home and around the world.” Quoted from the NOAA press release.
“In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations [...]. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.” Quoted from the NOAA press release.
“The TsunamiReady Program, developed by the National Weather Service, is designed to help cities, towns, counties, universities and other large sites in coastal areas reduce the potential for disastrous tsunami-related consequences.” NOAA has educational materials available for people of all ages.
The Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Monthly features a short-term history graph of natural gas prices for four consumer categories (residential, industrial, commercial, electric power). It clearly shows long term trends and how residential prices spike in the summer when consumers are being billed at low-volume rates.
“A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.” Quoted from the NSF press release.
“Shown here are two natural-color views: a close-up of the Kilauea Caldera and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and a wide-area view showing Mauna Ulu and Pu’u ’O’o. Within the Kilauea Caldera lies Halema’uma’u Crater. A small plume of water vapor emerges from this crater and blows toward the southwest.” Quoted from the NASA image release.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has created interactive reports that allow citizens create reports that summarize oil and gas production information, permits issued, drilling commence date, county data, operator specific data, as well as inspections, violations and enforcement actions.
An article on the ABC News website reports on how eminent domain is being used in Pennsylvania by a natural gaspipeline company to acquire missing pieces of a pipeline right-of-way.
“More than 500 volcanic vents have been identified in the State of California. At least 76 of these vents have erupted, some repeatedly, during the last 10,000 yr. Past volcanic activity has ranged in scale and type from small rhyolitic and basaltic eruptions through large catastrophic rhyolitic eruptions.” Quoted from the USGS report.
“The value of mineral production in the United States increased by 12 percent in 2011 from that of 2010, suggesting that the nonfuel minerals industries, particularly metals, continued to recover from the economic recession that began in December 2007 and lasted well into 2009. The value of raw, nonfuel minerals mined in the United States was $74 billion in 2011, up from $66 billion in 2010.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
“Decision-support systems can be used to help synthesize, visualize, and analyze the natural-science and socioeconomic information needed for making risk-reduction and land-use choices.”
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