Russian scientists have successfully drilled through two miles of Antarctic ice to reach Lake Vostok, a freshwater lake that has been isolated from the atmosphere for possibly 30 million years.
“Since the establishment of the Acid Rain Program, of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, there have been substantial reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions from power plants that use fossil fuels, which are known to be the primary causes of acid rain. As of 2009, emissions of SO2 and NOx declined by about two-thirds relative to levels in the 1990s.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
“This project aims to map the location of a graveyards around the globe and then use marble gravestones in those graveyards to measure the weathering rate of marble at that location.” Quoted from the project website.
Faith Fitzpatrick outlines the importance of habitat to the health of streams and shows examples of connecting people to urban streams through rehabilitation efforts across the USA.
Sinkholes are a common geological hazard in many parts of Pennsylvania. The state geological survey has an educational publication and small website to inform the public about sinkholes.
If you didn’t get to see the Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit at the Smithsonian, you can see videos and other information from the exhibit on the Smithsonian website.
Pictured at right are two of the interactive topics.
The National Ground Water Association has a website where teachers can find a collection of classroom experiments and activities that are age appropriate for grades K-3, 4-8 and 9-12.
An article in Crain’s New York Business titled “Natural-gas drilling is a great divider” explores why natural gas drilling has enormous support and enormous opposition in the state of New York.
Researchers at Montana State University are monitoring geothermal change beneath Yellowstone National Park in an effort to determine if commercial development of geothermal energy outside of the Park might damage Old Faithful and other park resources.
An article on The College of William and Mary news blog highlights a recent lecture titled: “Why do we study geosciences?” given by Heather Macdonald, Chancellor Professor of Geology.
An article in The Guardian reports that frogs, newts, toads and salamanders are meeting extinction at a very rapid rate – with half of the world’s species in decline.
An article on the Platts.com website explains how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is studying how explosive detonations can be used as an alternative hydraulic fracturing in the production of natural gas from shale.
A new satellite to monitor the atmosphere for conditions that could lead to severe weather has been launched. NOAA’s NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite will begin transmitting data in about 90 days with the goal of replacing data from the NOAA-19 satellite.
For surface life, the greatest biodiversity is generally found in the tropics. However, researchers are finding that biodiversity levels of underground life can be very high at almost any latitude.
Researchers have found that streams in the United States contain significant amounts of carbon and that streams play a more important role in the carbon cycle than previously believed.
The Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission published a report titled: Marcellus Shale: A Citizens View. It contains numerous recommendations that include: creating state revenue from natural gas drilling activity, preserving citizen property rights, protecting natural resources and more.
When a development project destroys an acre of wetlands the responsible company is often required to create another acre of new wetlands in the same watershed. This has fueled a new business of “mitigation banks”.
An Associated Press article examines how people who favor and oppose Marcellus Shalenatural gas development have very different perceptions of problems and opportunities.
ABC News has an interesting article about Alaska asking voters to decide between developing a gold/copper project or preserving a salmon habitat.
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