Geology News
United States Current Events

The United States Geological Survey has published a study on the depletion rates of ground water in the United States between 1900 and 2008. The rate of depletion is accelerating.

The amount of natural gas being imported from eastern Canada into the United States has dropped to about 1/2 of the average of the previous five years.

Since 2008, foreign companies have entered into 21 joint ventures with U.S. acreage holders and operators, investing more than $26 billion in tight oil and shale gas plays.

The Energy Information Administration reports on the falling natural gas production rates from the Gulf of Mexico and the plummeting share of United States natural gas being produced in the Gulf.

A VP of Statoil says that tight oil will not expand as rapidly in many parts of the world as it has in the United States because they don’t have entrepreneurial companies and private land ownership.

“According to a new technical report, the effects of climate change will continue to threaten the health and vitality of U.S. coastal communities’ social, economic and natural systems. The report, Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerabilities: a technical input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment, authored by leading scientists and experts, emphasizes the need for increased coordination and planning to ensure U.S. coastal communities are resilient against the effects of climate change.” Quoted from the USGS press release.

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.

“Climate change is already affecting the American people. Certain types of weather events have become more frequent and/or intense, including heat waves, heavy downpours, and, in some regions, floods and droughts. Sea level is rising, oceans are becoming more acidic, and glaciers and arctic sea ice are melting. These changes are part of the pattern of global climate change, which is primarily driven by human activity.” Quoted from the Executive Summary of the Federal Advisory Committee Draft Climate Assessment Report

“EIA estimates U.S. total crude oil production averaged 6.4 million barrels per day in 2012, an increase of 0.8 million bbl/d from the previous year. Projected domestic crude oil production continues to increase to 7.3 million bbl/d in 2013 and 7.9 million bbl/d in 2014, which would mark the highest annual average level of production since 1988.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration U.S. Crude Oil and Liquid Fuels report.

Are major acquisitions of North American oil and gas assets by a Chinese state-owned company a threat to the energy security of the United States and Canada? Some members of Congress and the energy industry do not like the potential transaction.

Did you know that the NOAA website has a tabulation of “Watches, Warnings and Advisories” for each of the 50 states? These include blizzard warnings, avalanche warnings, fire weather watches, wind advisories and much more.

“More than 128 megawatts of geothermal capacity came on-line in the U.S. in 2012, the second largest annual capacity addition since 2005.” This article on the Seeking Alpha blog lists twelve important geothermal events from 2012.

In the past few years the primary production of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids, wind energy, biomass and other renewables are rising.

The United States Geological Survey has published: “Century-scale perspective on water quality in selected river basins of the conterminous United States”.

Nutrient pollution in the form of excess nitrogen and phosphorus inputs is a well-known cause of water-quality degradation that has affected water bodies across the Nation throughout the 20th century.

An article on Bloomberg.com explores how natural gas exports can improve the United States’ trade deficit and improve the economy.

The Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review contains data that shows how rapidly natural gas imports are falling.

This drop is in response to the rapid development of natural gas from shale in many parts of the United States.

With enormous oil and gas potential in dozens of shale plays, the United States could become the world’s leading oil producer by 2020.

USGS before-and-after aerial images from the New Jersey and New York coastlines showing damage done by the Hurricane Sandy storm surge.

You can compose photo pairs from thousands of locations from North Carolina to Massachusetts using a USGS interactive map.

Hurricane Sandy has moved across Cuba, hit the Bahamas and is now moving towards the eastern coast of the United States. If it clashes with a cold front moving from Canada towards the east coast the impact could be severe.

“A new analysis by Stanford researchers reveals that there is enough offshore wind along the U.S. East Coast to meet the electricity demands of at least one-third of the country.” Quoted from the Stanford University press release.

“The importance of hydropower as a source of electricity generation varies by geographic region. While hydropower accounted for 8% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2011, it provided over half of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. Because hydroelectric generation relies on precipitation, it varies widely from month to month and year to year.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration article.

After increasing from 1985 through 2007, natural gas import levels are starting to fall rapidly. Graph by the Energy Information Administration.

Hundreds of people in the central United States are seeing their personal water supply wells going dry or falling to very low levels.

July was the hottest month on record in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has compiled a maps showing the geographic temperature deviation. The focal points of high temperature were in the northcentral states.

Farmers in several parts of the world are irrigating their fields with water that has been in the ground for thousands of years. The production rates are much higher than recharge rates and the aquifers are being depleted.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to exceptional drought covers 63.9% of the contiguous U.S. [...] For the history of the U.S Drought Monitor, which began in 1999, this is largest spatial extent of drought.

A Bank of America Merrill Lynch study reports that new domestic oil and natural gas production is bringing a billion dollars in benefits to the United States every day.

“Coal exports come in two forms: metallurgical coal, which can be used for steel production, and steam coal, which can be used for electricity generation. Metallurgical coal dominates U.S. coal exports. [...] In general, coal use abroad continued to grow. U.S. coal exports helped to meet rising Asian demand and provided coal for other emerging markets. ” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.

Even with massive natural gas discoveries in the United States over the past few years, consumption is increasing very slowly. The Energy Information Administration has consumption data and charts on a monthly and annual basis going back to 1950.

The International Energy Agency has an article about global carbon dioxide emissions. During 2011 they increased by 1.0 Gt to a new record high. Some quotes:

* “What China has done over such a short period of time to improve energy efficiency and deploy clean energy is already paying major dividends to the global environment”

* “India’s emissions rose by 140 Mt, or 8.7%, moving it ahead of Russia to become the fourth largest emitter behind China, the United States, and the European Union.”

* “Despite these increases, per-capita CO2 emissions in China and India still remain just 63% and 15% of the OECD average respectively.”