earth science
gregladen | January 8, 2008Accepting his 2005 TED Prize, photographer Edward Burtynsky makes a wish: that his images -- stunning landscapes that document humanity's impact on the world -- help persuade millions to join a global conversation on sustainability. Burtynsky presents a riveting slideshow of his photographs, which show vividly how industrial development is altering the Earth's natural landscape. From mountains of tires to rivers of bright orange waste from a nickel mine, his images are simultaneously beautiful and horrifying
grrlscientist | December 30, 2007tags: Stromatolites, fossils, earth science, NewScientist, Image of the Day
Stromatolites.
These intriguing fossils are a visual portal into the emergence of life and the eventual evolving of life forms from Cambrian to modern times.
Image: Mark Boyle 2007 (NewScientist calendar 2008). [Much larger view]
gregladen | December 14, 2007Global Warming Deniers Find Comfort in Geophysical Meetings PaperA paper presented at the American Geophysical Union is one of the few papers, if any, you will see mentioned on Fox News. The story claims that volcanoes under the ice sheet in Greenland are melting the ice cap. This could be an alternative explanation for what others see as global warming.
The truth? Research has shown that there is a correlation between how thick the Earth's crust is across Greenland, and how thick the Ice cap is, adjusting for various factors. Thinner crust is overlain by thinner ice. The idea is that…
gregladen | December 13, 2007The rock formation depicted here is believed to have been built by the giant Fin McCool (a.k.a. Fionn Mac Cumhaill) as a causeway to Scotland allowing the giant Benandonner to cross over so the two could engage in a competition of strength. However, a newly formed group called the "Causeway Creation Committee" now asserts that the rock formation is the result of the Noachian Flood.
From the Causeway Creation Committee's web site:
In the interests of the truth and equality the Causeway Creation Committee desires that any new visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway should include a display and…
gregladen | December 8, 2007Google.org director Larry Brilliant uses a clip from an old Frank Capra movie to show that we've known about global warming for 50 years -- yet in half a century, we've done almost nothing to solve it. He explores this and other megatrends that could inspire pessimism. But, he says, there is a more powerful case for optimism.
gregladen | December 1, 2007One time I found an intact skeleton of a large python that had eaten an antelope, but died with the antelope still inside. Cool. But this is even cooler:
A fossilized shark that swallowed a crocodile-like amphibian that, in turn, had gobbled up a fish has now been unearthed.
This exceptional find marks the first time scientists have found direct evidence of such a complex, extinct food chain.
Well, maybe. The story is reported here, but I was turned onto it by this must-see post at Science Buzz.
gregladen | November 15, 2007The situation, as predicted by, it seems, very few people, has worsened in the Indian Ocean. Cyclone Sidr is heading straight north, expected to strike land east of Calcutta, on the coast of Bangledesh, in several hours from now. This is a low-lying area that will undoubtedly be flooded very badly.
This may be the worst case scenario for hurricanes on this planet.
The storm is moving slowly, thus picking up considerable energy over very warm water. I think the water it has yet to cross is even warmer. Gusts are now way over category 5 strength. Form the joint hurricane prediction…
gregladen | November 10, 2007As you have surely heard, the Yellowstone Caldera ... the place where Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin reside ... has been undergoing increased "activity" including some earthquakes and a rising up of the land. Is this a big problem? Should the evacuate? Should those of us living only a few states away start wearing earplugs?
The paper reporting this, in the current issue of Science, concludes:
The caldera-wide accelerated uplift reported here is interpreted as magmatic recharge of the Yellowstone magma body. Although the geodetic observations and models do not imply an impending volcanic…
clock | August 31, 2007Naomi Oreskes, the author of the 2004 paper in Science about the scientific consensus on global warming, recently had her work attacked by regressive denialists (including on Senator I-hate-science-Inhofe's blog). Her full response is now available on Stranger Fruit. Go and read it. Now.
clock | August 30, 2007Geologists and other Earth/planetary science bloggers have gotten together and started The Accretionary Wedge. First edition will be this Sunday night so send your entries. Spread the word on your blogs. Also, think about the logo and make one if you have artistic talents.
purepedantry | January 23, 2007I saw this press release and for one brief happy instant I thought it might be about the band Scorpions and their hit Winds of Change. Sadly, it was just about wind direction changing over the last 30,000 years. Boo. Alright fine. I will still post it:
Dartmouth researchers have learned that the prevailing winds in the mid latitudes of North America, which now blow from the west, once blew from the east. They reached this conclusion by analyzing 14,000- to 30,000-year-old wood samples from areas in the mid-latitudes of North America (40-50°N), which represents the region north of Denver…
purepedantry | January 10, 2007Geologists are using computer models to speculate where the continents are going to go in the next 100 million years. Their conclusion: the continents may again rejoin into a new Pangea -- Pangea Ultima:
Today, some of his most ambitious efforts center on envisioning how Earth might look 250 million years from now. The easy part, Dr. Scotese said, is the continents. Their masses might change shape but seldom disappear altogether because their bedrock weighs little compared with dense ocean crust. Continents literally float above the action. So do mountains. Once formed, they tend to persist…