The Streamflow of 2010 — Water Year Summary is a collection of maps, graphs and data that summarize stream flow during the October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010 water year.
“The CO2 geological storage information in this Atlas was developed to provide a high-level overview of CO2 geological storage potential across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The location and areal extent of promising geological storage formations and the CO2 resource estimates presented in this Atlas are intended to be used as an initial assessment of potential geological storage opportunities.” Quote from the Atlas introduction.
United States uranium exploration drilling was 5,441 holes covering 3.3 million feet in 2011. Development drilling was 5,156 holes and 3.0 million feet. Combined, total uranium drilling was 10,597 holes covering 6.3 million feet, 47 percent more holes than in 2010.
“In March, the US, European Union, and Japan formally requested that the World Trade Organization (WTO) launch an investigation into China’s rare earth export policy.” Quoted from the Rare Earth Investing News.
Civilian nuclear power plant owners in the United States purchased 55 million pounds U3O8e in 2011 at an average price of $55.64 per pound U3O8e. Foreign-origin uranium accounted for 91% of the purchases and was sourced mainly from Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Brazil, China, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, South Africa, and Ukraine. Prices were up sharply.
On Saturday the distance between the Moon and the Earth will be at a minimum at about 11:35 PM as the Moon makes its elliptical orbit around the earth. The moon will appear bigger and brighter than normal.
Just a few years ago terminals to import liquefied natural gas were being built on the eastern and Gulf coasts of the United States. Now, these terminals are idle or operating at fractional capacity. Some companies are interested in converting them into LNG export facilities.
The United States has an new abundance of natural gas – so much that prices have fallen dramatically. However, natural gas prices in other parts of the world are still relatively high. Should the United States respond by exporting natural gas? What would happen to prices and supplies if enormous quantities of natural gas were exported?
The map above shows global temperature anomalies for March 2012. [...] For the month, the eastern two-thirds of the United States, as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba, saw temperatures [...] approaching as much as 10 degrees Celisius above normal (deepest reds on the map). Temperatures were similarly extreme in the Arctic Ocean around Svalbard, the Barents Sea, and the Kara Sea. Far eastern Siberia, Alaska, and northwestern North America were significantly colder, while much of Europe and western Russia were warmer than normal.
“A USGS study found that groundwater in aquifers on the East Coast and in the Central United States has the highest risk of contamination from radium. [...] Radium is naturally occurring, so human activity is not the sole source of the problem.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
A Washington Post article explores the impact of natural gas exports on the United States energy economy. Some fear that they will increase the price of gas in US markets and increase the use of hydraulic fracturing.
U.S. petroleum product exports exceeded imports in 2011 for first time in over six decades. [...] The increase in foreign purchases of distillate fuel contributed the most to the United States becoming a net exporter of petroleum products. Quoted from the Energy Information Administration report.
“The importance of hydropower as a source of electricity generation varies by geographic region. While hydropower accounted for 6% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2010, it provided over half of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest.” Quote from the Energy Information Administration article.
Marine treasure hunters claim to have located the SS Port Nicholson, a Britsh ship that was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1942. It was carrying over $2 billion in precious metals and industrial diamonds.
The Energy Information Administration forecasts that United States non-hydro renewable power generation growth over the next 25 years will be led by gains in wind and biomass.
The area above the Arctic Circle is underlain by sedimentary basins and continental shelves that hold enormous oil and natural gas resources. The United States Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic contains approximately 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil resources and about 30 percent of its undiscovered conventional natural gas resources.
“Rivers and streams in the United States are releasing substantially more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than previously thought. These findings could change the way scientists model the movement of carbon between land, water, and the atmosphere.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
Analysts are expecting natural gas prices to continue falling during 2012 as overproduction and slow adoption of the fuel in the transportation and electricity generation industries continues.
An article on Reuters.com reports that Oil India Limited, a public oil and gas company under the control of the Government of India, is interested in buying a stake in the Eagle Ford Shale in the United States as well as stakes in natural gas shales in other countries.
The U.S. Department of State has a new website that provides information on the “Law of the Sea Convention”. The Law of the Sea will govern the use of Earth’s oceans and define Territorial Seas and Exclusive Economic Zones that will be controlled by various countries.
USGS has released .pdf files of the “Seismic-Hazard Maps for the Conterminous United States, 2008″. “These maps are intended to summarize the available quantitative information about seismic ground motion hazard for the conterminous United States from geologic and geophysical source.” Quote from the USGS publication release.
The United States Department of Energy has published their 2011 Critical Mineral Strategy. It explains how supply concerns for a variety of minerals threaten energy security in the United States.
A growing abundance of domestic natural gas and higher gas prices in other countries place the United States in a position to become a major exporter of liquified natural gas. An article on NASDAQ.com explores a number of events that could prevent that from occurring.
The American Geosciences Institute has an interesting article on critical minerals that outlines what makes a mineral “critical” and how the sudden loss of these resources could impact both the U.S. and global economy.
The United States has a 100% import reliance on the minerals listed at right.
Some people believe that oil and natural gas production in the United States on an energy equivalent basis could reach an all time high – surpassing record levels set in the early 1970′s.
Some people believe that the current abundance of natural gas in the United States creates an opportunity to export to locations where gas prices are higher. Others believe that the gas should be kept in the United States to reduce our energy dependance.
Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.
The Law of the Sea Treaty is an agreement that allocates the seafloor resources under the Arctic Ocean. A debate in the Wall Street Journal has arguments in favor and against.
An article on the Syracuse.com website explains how about 20 million tons of floating debris from Japan’s March 11th earthquake and tsunami is moving across the Pacific and is expected to wash ashore on the Hawaiian Islands and the US west coast.
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 Energy Information Administration has published its Annual Energy Review, a document loaded with statistics about United States energy production, consumption, sources and economics.
An article on the FuelFix.com website describes some of the current activity, ideas and plans related to oil exploration on the Arctic continental shelves.
“The brilliant streaks of blue and green that color the Great Lakes in this image are a contradiction.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“Global natural gas prices vary considerably from one region to another. Since the beginning of 2010, North American prices have been relatively low, Asian prices relatively high, and northwest European prices in between.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration article.
“The United States imported about 49% of the petroleum,1 which includes crude oil and refined petroleum products, that we consumed during 2010. About half of these imports came from the Western Hemisphere.
Our dependence on foreign petroleum has declined since peaking in 2005.” Quote from the Energy Information Administration website.
An article in the Houston Chronicle points to the rapidly rising rates of oil production in the United States and Canada. If current trends continue North America could be producing record amounts of oil by 2016.
“EDMAP is an interactive and meaningful program for university students to gain experience and knowledge in geologic mapping while contributing to national efforts to map the geology of the United States.” Quoted from the USGS fact sheet.
“As large parts of the nation recover from nature’s one-two punch—an earthquake followed by Hurricane Irene—building researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology warn that a double whammy of seismic and wind hazards can increase the risk of structural damage to as much as twice the level implied in building codes.” Quoted from the National Institute of Standards and Technology news release.
“Fires have continuously occurred on Earth for at least the last 400 million years. But since the 1970s, the frequency of wildfires has increased at least four-fold, and the total size of burn areas has increased at least six-fold in the western United States alone.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.
“This video describes causes of wetland loss in the Mississippi River Delta. Rapid land subsidence due to sediment compaction and dewatering increases the rate of submergence in this deltaic system.” Quoted from the USGS video release.
“Nearly 90,000 high resolution scans of the more than 200,000 historical USGS topographic maps, some dating as far back as 1884, are now available online. The Historical Topographic Map Collection includes published U.S. maps of all scales and editions.” Quoted from the USGS news release.
An article in the Los Angeles times points to small amounts of natural gas that are lost during drilling and production and asks: What is the climate impact?
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