Scientists can determine the occurrence of past events such as drought or wildfire by studying the rings of tree trunks. This has led to the compilation of a California climate record that spans thousands of years, thanks in part to the giant sequoia trees.
Researchers are gaining a new understanding of the San Andreas Fault. Stream channels on the Carrizo Plain in southern California were used to calculate the offset of past earthquakes – yielding some surprising results.
America’s largest shake table is at the University of California, San Diego. This video shows different test structures being shaken about, and explains how more earthquake-resistant buildings are being designed.
An article on the San Francisco Chronicle explores the age of Mammoth Mountain, an area with a volcanic history in California, and considers its future activity.
Beneath the Long Valley caldera in California, both basaltic and silicic magma can be found. When the volcano erupts next, the style of eruption will depend upon the magma’s composition.
Since 1857 over 500 rockfalls in Yosemite Valley have killed 14 people and injured 62. Now over 200 cabins are off limits to visitors because they are in an area with a high incidence of rockfalls.
The water used to irrigate the vineyards in Napa Valley is disappearing through the parched, cracked soil. A study by Eve Hinckley examines why this is happening.
In the last few days, Humboldt squid have been invading California’s coastal waters by the hundreds. Fishermen are having a field day catching them and getting squirted with ink.
Although California has an improved natural gas supply situation, the state senate is still considering bills that relate to new LNG facilities that might come to the state.
UC Berkeley professors believe that minute stress changes caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon trigger deep tremors along the San Andreas fault.
The trees, plants, and turfgrass in city parks naturally absorb carbon dioxide and cleanse the urban air; in this way, they are beneficial to people and the environment. However, the total amount of emissions from park maintenance – irrigation, fertilization, gas-powered lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and the like – can easily outweigh this benefit.
Pacific Ocean waves are causing erosion that threatens buildings atop a cliff near Pacifica, California. Residents are evacuating because collapse appears certain.
In parts of southern California residents on and at the base of steep slopes that were burned by recent wildfires are being warned about mudslide hazards and advised to evacuate.
Democrats in the California Assembly’s Revenue and Taxation Committee passed a bill by a party-line vote that will impose a new severance tax on oil and natural gas producers in that state.
In this CNN video, Gary Bird of the Eureka Fire Department describes the damage and problems resulting from Saturday’s M6.5 earthquake. Damage was light and there were no deaths or serious injuries reported at the time of his interview.
Thousands of people have logged into the USGS website to report how they experienced the M6.5 earthquake that occurred yesterday. The map below was cropped from a USGS intensity map based upon input from about 8000 people as of Sunday morning.
“This earthquake occurred approximately 35 km WNW of Ferndale, CA in a deformation zone of the southernmost Juan de Fuca plate that is commonly referred to as the Gorda plate. The earthquake’s epicenter is northwest of the Mendocino Triple Junction, which is formed by the intersection of the Mendocino fracture zone, the San Andreas fault and the Cascadia subduction zone.” Quoted from USGS.
This photo by the Atlantis STS-129 crew shows the astronauts’ view of the area surrounding Puerto San Carlos, Baja California. Visible in this image are the dune-covered beaches, deserts, mangroves, and a variety of water features.
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake is reported by USGS in Baja, Mexico, just south of the California border. Instrument intensity estimates are VI / VII near the epicenter.
“An earthquake early warning system for California is feasible in coming years…. Earthquake early warning systems, already successfully deployed in Mexico, Japan and Taiwan, can detect an earthquake in progress and provide notice of seconds to tens of seconds prior to actual ground shaking.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
CNN has a short video that shows an apartment complex near Pacifica, California where wave erosion at the base of a cliff has dangerously encroached upon the building. (Note: the video has no sound.)
The Mojave Desert of California seems like the perfect location for wind and solar energy power plants. A New York Times article presents some of the challenges they are now facing.
USGS, NOAA and other organizations developed a prototype debris flow warning system using weather forecasts and precipitation measurements along with regional USGS rainfall rate thresholds to determine the probability of debris flows.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline and the Jordan Cove LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal. The terminal will receive about 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and the pipeline will transport the gas from the Coos Bay terminal to Malin, Oregon. The project will supply natural gas to underserved markets in the Pacific Northwest, northern California and northern Nevada.
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