NASA’s Aqua Satellite captured this spectacular image of dust plumes streaming from the desert of Egypt out over the Mediterranean Sea on October 4, 2009.
A large rift in Ethiopia’s Afar desert may be the beginnings of a new ocean. An eruption from the Dabbahu volcano triggered the rift’s formation, when the ground split about 6 meters (20 feet) in the course of a few days.
The Kimberly Process is a set of standards that a diamond-producing country must meet to assure that the stones are produced legally and without human exploitation. Zimbabwe could be told to stop exporting diamonds until it complies with the KP standards.
“Every year an average of 50 volcanoes erupt worldwide, putting lives, economic productivity, and homes in danger. USAID is responding to that risk with the world’s only volcano crisis response team. ” Quoted from the USAID press release.
A 4.4 million-year-old fossil found in Ethiopia has changed many ideas about the appearance and behavior of human ancestors. The Los Angeles Times website has an article, photos of the fossil and a sketch of Ardipithecus ramidus.
One of the largest diamonds in history was discovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa. The 507-carat white stone is one of many spectacular gems from the Cullinan Mine.
A Google map with a pushpin marking the location of the highest point on each continent. Do you know the name of the mountain that has the highest elevation in Europe? Zoom in for a satellite view.
Explosive eruptions at Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano in 2008 built a cone over 100 meters (330 feet) high with a steep-walled crater. This NASA image shows the gray ash-covered landscape and other eruption effects.
National Geographic reports that Africa’s largest snake, the African rock python is reproducing in the wild in Florida. This is a 20-foot-long ill-tempered snake.
By the end of 2011, Halliburton expects to have 46 more deepwater drilling rigs on duty to service projects in Brazil, West Africa, Pacific Asia and the Gulf of Mexico.
Petroglyphs, sometimes known as “rock art,” are images cut into or scribed onto a stone surface by people. They are often produced as a form or art or communication. This photo gallery features petroglyphs from worldwide locations including: Arizona, British Columbia, California, Chile, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nevada, New Mexico, Norway, Ontario, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington.
The South African International Year of Planet Earth Website has an informative .pdf document that explains the geologic hazards in that country. Earthquakes, sinkholes, unstable soils, coastal erosion, landslides, floods and tsunamis are covered in the report. A quote that I found surprising….
“The rates of seismic activity in South Africa’s gold mining districts are higher than elsewhere in the world (even than California and Japan, which are renowned for earthquakes). A typical deep-level mine records about 1 000 seismic events each day.”
Economists using satellite images? Researchers at Brown University are looking at changes in the density of light to estimate the growth in GDP of developing countries.
A New York Times article reports that Uganda and Kenya are threatening war over Migingo Island in Lake Victoria – which is crossed by their international boundary. The science story in that article is about how climate change is impacting the lake and that brings the boundary dispute into focus.
In some countries such as Kenya, where household electricity can be a luxury, many people are buying solar cell phones. Between uses, a solar panel produces electricity that charges the phone’s battery.
Earth Observatory has a satellite image of a fire on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa. The fire this past weekend forced several thousand people to evacuate homes and tourist accommodations.
National Geographic News has a short article about portions of the Sahara that show signs of increased rainfall and plant growth – a trend that has held for over 20 years.
Some locations in Asia and Africa are being used as dump sites for other countries’ unwanted electronics. This is causing contamination issues in these areas, as well as health problems for people who explore the dumps in search of precious metals.
One of NASA’s most famous images is known as the “Satellite Photo of Earth at Night.” It really isn’t a photo, instead it is a compiled image that maps the location of permanent lights on Earth’s surface. It is not a map of population, instead it is more a map of electricity use.
Shown at right is heavily illuminated Europe in contrast with the less illuminated Africa.
A collection of petroglyph photos from Arizona, British Columbia, California, Chile, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nevada, New Mexico, Norway, Ontario, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington.
Diamonds have lifted the economy of Botswana but the recent recession has cut demand by about 50%. Their response is an attempt to capture the diamond sorting, cutting and selling portions of the trade.
CNOOC (China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas) Sinopec (also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation) agreed to purchase a 20% stake in a group of oil fields off the coast of Angola from Marathon Oil Corporation for $1.3 billion. The companies are moving to secure future oil supplies.
The DesertTech Industrial Initiative could be the largest alternative energy project of all time. Their goal is to build solar farms across northern Africa and the Middle East and then transmit the power to Europe.
Exxon Mobil began drilling the first deepwater exploration well in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Libya. It is located in the Sirte Basin, northeast of Misrata, Libya.
Earth Observatory has a series of images that document current drought conditions in a region south of the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel. Poor vegetation growth, food shortages and water shortages are now problems in this area.
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Hobart King
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