“Peru is currently a net oil importer and a natural gas exporter, but rising exploration and development may lead to increased production and exports of both oil and gas in the next few years.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.
“This area lies east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, in an area of tropical dry forest. Since the mid-1980s, the resettlement of people from the Altiplano and a large agricultural development effort have led to deforestation in this area.”
Left: June 17, 1975. Middle: July 10, 1992. Right: August 1, 2000.
The Colombian geological survey has increased the eruption alert for Nevado del Ruiz to Orange. In 1985, lahars from an eruption at Nevado del Ruiz killed an estimated 25,000 people.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a new documentary and traveling exhibition titled “Titanoboa: Monster Snake”. The largest known snake lived about 60 million years ago in what is now Colombia, weighed over one ton and grew to a length of up to 48 feet.
Erik Klemetti reports on “Increasing Volcanic Unrest Observed at Nevado del Ruiz in Columbia” the volcano that produced a lahar in 1985 that killed over 20,000 people.
“Brazil is the ninth largest energy consumer in the world and the third largest in the Western Hemisphere [...] primary energy consumption in Brazil has increased by close to a third in the last decade, due to sustained economic growth. In addition, Brazil has made great strides in increasing its total energy production, particularly oil and ethanol.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration website.
For the past twenty years the ground has been rising at a rate of about 1/2 inch per year at Bolivia’s Uturuncu Volcano. Uturuncu has the potential of producing enormous eruptions but experts do not believe that the current inflation is a warning signal.
Brazil is set to change from an oil importer to one of the world’s largest oil exporters. Huge discoveries of very deep oil offshore of Rio de Janeiro are expected to be producing millions of barrels per day in just a few years.
Unconventional natural gas from shale could revive the oil and gas industry in Argentina. To stimulate interest in unconventional gas, producers will be allowed to sell it at above regulated rates.
A geologists has a rare opportunity to be a first-hand witness to how some rocks in Chile’s Atacama Desert are sculpted into unusual shapes by brief periods of “earthquake abrasion”.
Climate change has glacial lakes in the Himalayas growing to extreme capacity. Tipping-point lakes at high altitude on extremely steep slopes could be disasters waiting to happen.
“This astronaut photograph illustrates slash-and-burn forest clearing along the Rio Xingu (Xingu River) in the state of Matto Grasso, Brazil.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
The Guardian website has a short video about the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre/Sub-millimetre Array) radio telescope being built high on a plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
“Ecuador is one of Latin America’s largest oil exporters, with net oil exports estimated at 285,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2010. The oil sector accounts for about 50 percent of Ecuador’s export earnings and about one-third of all tax revenues. Despite being an oil exporter, Ecuador must still import refined petroleum products due to the lack of sufficient domestic refining capacity to meet local demand.” Quoted from the EIA country analysis report.
“Global population is expected to hit 7 billion later this year, up from 6 billion in 1999. Between now and 2050, an estimated 2.3 billion more people will be added—nearly as many as inhabited the planet as recently as 1950. New estimates from the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations also project that the population will reach 10.1 billion in 2100.” Quoted from the Harvard School of Public Health press release.
Eucalyptus leaves usually conjure up thoughts of Australia and Koala bears, however, researchers have found 51.9 million-year-old eucalyptus leaves, flowers, fruits and buds in Patagonia, Argentina. They are the oldest eucalyptus fossils and the only naturally occurring eucalyptus found outside of Australia.
Chevron and Texaco are working to develop the natural gasvehicle fuel market in Colombia. Chevron produces the gas and Texaco sells it to consumers at TEXGAS brand fueling stations. “In the last six years, NGV consumption has grown more than 800 percent and now represents nearly 10 percent of Colombia’s national gas usage.” Perhaps ExxonMobile will start selling gas at hundreds of fueling stations atop of the Marcellus Shale gas play?
“Argentina is a significant South American oil and natural gas producer, but in recent years its production has been in decline while energy demand has grown robustly.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
“Qatar has agreed to a long-term commitment to supply 700 MMcf per day of LNG to Argentina. [...] Qatar is the world’s largest LNG exporter, exporting close to 1.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2009, the most recent year for which data are available.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
“Colombia is emerging as a significant energy producer in the South America. The country has seen a dramatic increase in oil production in recent years following a period of steady decline. Improves security situation coupled with regulatory reforms made the sector more attractive to foreign investors, spurring energy development. [...] Colombia is the United States’ largest source of coal imports and tenth largest source of oil imports.” Quoted from the EIA country analysis brief.
Earth Observatory has a satellite image that shows the ash plume from the Puyehue-Cordón Volcano Complex crossing the Andes then turning northeast over Argentina.
On June 3 and 4 an eruption at the Puyehuè – Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex released a large plume of ash and sulfur dioxide that initially was carried south-eastwards by near-surface winds then was carried over the Atlantic Ocean by the upper-level westerlies. Video by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.
“The use of nighttime lights visible on earth from space is one of the more innovative ways to measure social and economic activity in countries that have little or no reliable data collection programs.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.
“After this image was taken, the ash quickly blew eastward towards Argentina. Over the border, near the town of Bariloc, a layer of ash at least 30 centimeters (12 inches) deep covered the ground.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth’s tropical forests.” Quoted from the NASA news release.
“The region east of the central Andes Mountains has the potential for larger scale earthquakes than previously expected. [...] Previous research had set the maximum expected earthquake size to be magnitude 7.5, based on the relatively quiet history of seismicity in that area. This new study by researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and colleagues contradicts that limit and instead suggests that the region could see quakes with magnitudes 8.7 to 8.9.”
“A sediment core from a South American lake revealed a steady, sharp drop in crucial monsoon rainfall since 1900, leading to the driest conditions in 1,000 years.” Quoted from the University of Pittsburgh news release.
About 300 people who live near Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador were evacuated from their homes last week. The Washington Post reports that the volcano was throwing truck-size rocks over a mile from the vent.
“Astronauts onboard the International Space Station see, on average, 16 sunrises and sunsets during a 24-hour orbital period. Each changeover between day and night is marked by the terminator, a line on Earth’s surface separating the sunlit side from the darkness.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory post.
“Venezuela contains some of the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world. It consistently ranks as one of the top suppliers of U.S. oil imports and is among the top ten oil producers in the world.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.
“A new NASA-funded study has revealed widespread reductions in the greenness of the forests in the vast Amazon basin in South America caused by the record-breaking drought of 2010.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
Argentina’s Congress passed a law intended to regulate the activities that can occur in the area surrounding existing glaciers. The law is being challenged by mining companies who have invested billions of dollars in the regulated areas.
Twenty-five percent of the gold mined in Peru is thought to be produced illegally. In a recent campaign against illegal miners about 1000 government troops seized or destroyed 20 dredges valued at several million dollars.
The Google Earth blog has an image of an area in Brazil that received about ten inches of rain in a single day. The result was an amazing density of landslides that reportedly killed nearly 1000 people.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred near Concepcion, Chile on Friday, February 11 at about 5:05 PM local time. The USGS instrumental intensity map shows values of VI to VII near the epicenter.
Did you know that 33 countries have land below sea level? Explore some of these below sea level locations in an article by Dr David Lynch accompanied by a Google map of the ten deepest.
Shown at right is the Dead Sea Depression – the lowest point on earth with an elevation of 413 meters below sea level (approximate and fluctuating)
A study by the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reports that the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that occurred Chile in February 2010 did not reduce earthquake risk in that area by reducing seismic stress. In some locations risk might be higher after the earthquake.
“Brazil is the ninth largest energy consumer in the world. Total primary energy consumption in Brazil has increased by close to a third in the last decade, due to sustained economic growth. In addition, Brazil has made great strides in increasing its total energy production, particularly oil and ethanol. Recent discoveries of large offshore, pre-salt oil deposits could transform Brazil into one of the largest oil producers in the world.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.
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.
Some observers are calling the recent flooding and landslides in Brazil the “biggest weather-related tragedy in Brazil’s history”. Hundreds of people have been killed during the past week.
“Off the coast of Argentina, two strong ocean currents recently stirred up a colorful brew of floating nutrients and microscopic plant life just in time for the summer solstice.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
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