This video discusses how scientists have tracked what, when, and how contaminants may reach public-supply wells in four aquifers in California, Connecticut, Nebraska, and Florida.
Human activities emit mercury into the atmosphere, where it can oxidize and return to Earth’s surface in precipitation. Researchers have found that with the onset of Arctic spring, the mercury-depleted atmosphere adjusts by re-absorbing mercury through isotopic fractionation.
Drilling and hydrofracking a well in one of the natural gas plays such as the Marcellus or Haynesville requires at least a million gallons of water with chemical additives and will become salty when it comes in contact with subsurface brines. An article on the Reuters website explores this problem in New York.
Vegetated buffers are capable of removing contaminants from the soil, such as those from agricultural activities. Data on different variables (plant type, treatment area, slope, etc.) have been combined to determine the most effective vegetated buffer.
Nuclear fallout from experiments in the 1950s left the Pacific Marshall Islands of Rongelap, Bikini, Enjebi and Utrok contaminated. Over the years, a healthy water cycle has dissipated much of the contaminants, and other measures that are being taken may allow former inhabitants to return to their island homes.
An executive of Gazprom, the largest producer of natural gas in the world, says it is “unimaginable” that Europe will allow the development of its shale gas resources because of concerns with water supply contamination.
In Ecuador, a court-appointed study argues that Chevron should pay $27 billion for environmental damage. Chevron says that the study should be thrown out because the primary author has serious conflicts of interest.
A gamma-ray camera used in hospitals can also function as a technetium (Tc) detector for soil. Tc is created during uranium processing, and is radioactive. When Tc is present in nuclear soil contamination, the cameras can follow the path of the element through the ground to facilitate cleanup.
Rapid development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania has state government working to field more inspectors and pass new regulations intended to protect the environment from potential impact of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
About $2 billion of stimulus funding is being spent to clean-up the Hanford Nuclear Site, a facility built as part of the “Manhattan Project” in developing the first atomic weapons.
For the last three years, Dr. Michel Boufadel and his students have been studying the site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill at Prince William Sound, Alaska. Temple University has a large collection of photos and information from their trips; you can browse several photo galleries to learn about their work.
A tanker, Eagle Otome, collided with the towing vessel, Dixie Vengeance, ripping a large hole in one of its tanks and spilling nearly 1/2 million gallons of crude oil at Port Arthur, Texas.
After two decades, traces of oil from the Exxon Valdez accident can still be found on the beaches of Prince William Sound, Alaska. Low levels of nutrients and oxygen in the gravelly soil have hampered biodegradation of the oil.
A biosensor for algae toxins has been developed by researchers at the University of Michigan. Carbon nanotubes in a small piece of paper can identify microcystin-LR (MC-LR) from cyanobacteria in less than twelve minutes. This technology can be adjusted to identify other common pollutants as well, which could lead to the development of easy, affordable home safety tests for tap water.
Here is a video interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of the Waterkeeper Alliance. He discusses privatizing water supplies, and how water pollution and shortages are concerns.
Parking lots and driveways coated with a coal tar based product have been found to contain a high level of PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These contaminants, which are likely to be carcinogenic, can be tracked indoors and mix with house dust. On the other hand, asphalt-based sealants (more commonly used in the western U.S.) do not contain the same high concentrations of PAHs.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conduced toxic vapor tests to detect hazardous emissions from natural gas drilling sites in the Fort Worth area. None of the 126 sites tested had contaminant levels that exceeded regulatory standards.
Some bacteria have iron respiration, meaning they “inhale” iron instead of oxygen. These bacteria could be used in a variety of applications, such as creating energy from organic waste, or to remove uranium and oil pollution.
NASA’s Earth Observatory has a satellite image of a harmful algal bloom swirling over the surface of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The bloom is thought to be in response to sewage contamination, deforestation runoff and agricultural runoff.
The Athabasca oil sands of Alberta are an enormous Canadian oil reserve. What effect do oil sand operations have on the surrounding area? A research team from the University of Alberta decided to find out.
A New York Times article reports on instances of public water suppliers violating drinking water standards and how some of those violations seem to be inadequately addressed by government agencies.
Between 2005 and 2007 the housing boom and hurricane rebuilding caused a shortage of drywall in some southern US states. To meet the demand drywall was imported from China and used in many homes. Now some of that drywall is causing corrosion of metal objects in these homes and residents are concerned that exposure might lead to health problems.
Arsenic contamination is a problem in countries worldwide, but the situation is particularly bad in Bangladesh. Millions of people there are affected by groundwater that is tainted with arsenic.
Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a global problem, and toxic freshwater and/or marine algae have been implicated in human and animal illness and death in over 45 countries worldwide and in at least 27 U.S. States.
Warming ocean temperatures and runoff waters are contributing to flourishing jellyfish populations. The jellyfish swarms, or blooms, cause problems for fish and humans alike. This article links to a slideshow with photos.
Welcome! Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here.
Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive them for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.
Hobart King
Advertising
Popular From Geology.com
The East Africa Rift System: Learn some basics about the East Africa Rift System from this article by James Wood and Alex Guth of Michigan Technological University.
What are Meteorites? Join meteorite hunter, Geoffrey Notkin, as he begins a series of monthly articles on the topic of meteorites.
Marcellus Shale: The most overlooked resource in the eastern United States!
Mineral Rights / Oil & Gas: Who owns the minerals under your land? Have they been sold? Can someone mine without your permission?
