• Current News
• Africa
• Alabama
• Alaska
• Antarctic
• Archaeology
• Arctic
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Asia
• Astronomy
• Atlantic
• Australia and Pacific
• California
• Canada
• Caves and Karst
• Central America & Mexico
• Coastal Geology
• Colorado
• Contamination
• Delaware
• Diamonds
• Dinosaurs
• Earthquakes
• Energy
• Engineering Geology
• Environment
• Europe
• Floods
• Florida
• Fossils
• Gemstones
• Geologist Career
• Geology for Kids
• Georgia
• Geothermal
• Glaciers
• Global Warming
• Gold
• GPS and GIS
• Great Websites
• Ground Water
• Hawaii
• Historical Geology
• Hurricanes and Cyclones
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Interesting
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Landslides
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maps
• Mars
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Metals
• Meteorology
• Meteors and Meteorites
• Michigan
• Minerals
• Mining
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Natural Hazards
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Oceanography
• Ohio
• Oil and Gas
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Plate Tectonics
• Satellite Images
• South America
• South Dakota
• Space
• Subsidence
• Teaching Science
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Tornadoes
• Tsunami
• United States
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Volcanoes
• Washington
• Water
• West Virginia
• Wildfire
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Geology News
North Carolina Current Events

The Sierra Club is not satisfied with the environmental protection measures of coal-fired power plants in seven states. The Club’s most recent effort targets plants in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri and Wyoming for failing to include adequate pollution controls for mercury and other toxics.

North Carolina Map

There are news reports of tornadoes in North Carolina on Thursday evening and Friday morning. One person is reported killed and others injured. High winds caused significant damage to homes, cars, airport facilities and utility lines.

DId you know that emeralds have been mined in North Carolina? How about Hiddenite? The-Vug.com has photos of the North Carolina Emerald/Hiddenite exhibit from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. You will be surprised at the size of some of these specimens.

CIA Image

Students and faculty from North Carolina State University are doing environmental field work in Antarctica. They have been posting lots of photos and short reports about their work and experience on their “Wolfpack in Antarctica” blog. They have been posting since January and their trip ends on March 17th.

USGS Image

From the article: “The lowest average August streamflow in 110 years of record was recorded on the Tar River at Tarboro. The lowest average August streamflow on record was measured at 12 other monitoring stations in the state, with 9 of those sites located in central North Carolina, 2 sites in the coastal plain, and 2 sites in the mountains. All of these sites have at least 35 years of record, and most of the sites have more than 50 years of record.”

NOAA Image

Tropical Storm Gabrielle is moving towards the coast of North Carolina. It’s outer bands are over the Outer Banks and its center could arrive there on Sunday afternoon. Tropical Storm warnings are in effect for the entire North Carolina coastline and the southeastern coast of Virginia.

USGS Image

A fisherman caught a one pound, four ounce piranha in North Carolina’s Catawba River. Piranhas are carnivorous freshwater fish that you don’t want to swim or wade with. They are native to South America and should not be found in the Catawba or any other United States river. Biologists believe that the fish was kept as a pet and then later released when it was no longer wanted. Releasing “exotic species” into the wild is irresponsible and can have adverse impacts on local species and environments.

NOAA Image

Beach erosion will wipe out extensive parts of the Cape Hatteras area the next time a large hurricane strikes. A Katrina-size storm could wash away 75% of the North Carolina Outer Banks. When Hurricane Isabel struck the Outer Banks in 2003, the Category 2 hurricane’s 8-foot storm surge and waves removed a stretch of Hatteras Island a third of a mile wide. Imagine what a Category 5 storm could do with 25-foot waves. (Includes a video about the 1999 lighthouse move.)

SupremeCourt.gov

Judges from across the southeast gathered at the University of North Carolina to learn about science topics of relevance to their court decisions. The explosion of forensic evidence has given science an important and increasingly common presence in the courts. The docket was heavy with topics related to medicine and genetics. Cheers for these judges, almost all of whom have undergraduate majors outside of the sciences!