Geosciences Bulletin Board 25 May 2015

Geosciences Bulletin Board – 25 May 2015

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Relationships between the troposphere & stratosphere may lead to better weather predictions

·  http://www.technology.org/2015/05/20/study-highlights-ways-to-boost-weather-and-climate-predictions/

Landslide associated with earthquakes in Nepal dams river, waters rising, fear that breach will cause downstream flood in India

·  http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/nepal-earthquake-55-996317.html

Mollusk shells lead to better stress test

·  http://www.technology.org/2015/05/20/seashell-strength-inspires-stress-tests/

A universal sliding mechanism is proposed for earthquakes of all depths

·  http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/29193

More perils of tunneling for Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle (video)

·  http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/05/18/bertha-damage-more-extensive-than-anticipated/27537477/

Ancient “eternal flames” of interest to modern geologists

·  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150518102031.htm

Understanding the relationship between earthquake instability and the mechanisms associated with fault weakening during slip

·  http://www.ou.edu/content/publicaffairs/archives/OUGeologistCollaboratesOnStudyToDetermineMechanismAssociatedWithFaultWeakeningInEarthquakes.html

Investigation will focus on why thunderstorms occur at night in the Great Plains

·  http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135046&org=GEO&from=news

After all, it really is just one ocean…and heat from the Pacific is being transferred to the Indian

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-global-captured-pacific-ocean-indian.html

Geochemistry of lake sediments may shed light on the early evolution of life

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-ancient-lake-evolution.html

New topographic quadrangle maps issued for the State of Louisiana

·  http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4227#.VVzoUflViko

The first dinosaur bone found in Washington State is a theropod femur

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-paleontologists-dinosaur-fossil-washington-state.html

“San Andreas” yet another disaster movie! (videos)

·  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/san-andreas/could-the-earthquake-happen/

·  Separating fact from fiction: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/separating-earthquake-fact-fiction-san-andreas-172708025.html

·  1906 San Francisco EQ tsunami: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/1906.html

Quake Cluster Theory says Earth is now in a seismically active phase

·  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/earth-now-seismically-active-period-according-quake-cluster-theory-1502158

Book Review: "Discovering the Deep: A Photographic Atlas of the Seafloor and Ocean Crust”

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-oceanographer-publishes-atlas-seafloor-volcanoes.html

Oklahoma may follow the lead of Texas in overturning law that allows local ban on fracking

·  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/05/20/step-texas-oklahoma-poised-outlaw-local-drilling-bans

The next generation of science standards should be of concern to geoscientists

·  http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/25/2/pdf/i1052-5173-25-2-28.pdf

Rolling internal waves in the ocean are important phenomena

·  http://www.science20.com/news_articles/the_oceans_unseen_waves_where_heat_energy_and_nutrients_go-155414

The “shaky science” behind predicting earthquakes

·  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/shaky-science-behind-predicting-earthquakes-180955296/

Hubbard Glacier rarely advances, but it will change the fjord when it does

·  http://io9.com/this-rare-advancing-glacier-is-set-to-transform-an-alas-1705750658

On the 100th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Lassen in northern California

·  http://www.wired.com/2015/05/remembering-lassen-peaks-last-blast-100-years-later/

Geodetic fingerprinting of shallow thrust faults in Nepal

·  http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2015/05/the-geodetic-fingerprints-of-shallow-thrusting-in-nepal/

Wyoming passes “Data Trespass Bill“ which makes it illegal to take soil or water samples on public lands

·  http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/wyoming-criminalizes-taking-soil-samples-and-ecological-photos-on-public-lands-150520?news=856529

Image of circum-polar oceanic currents with eddies surrounding Antarctica

·  http://www.livescience.com/50831-incredible-antarctica-currents-image.html

Set of more than 250 Kelvin-Helmholtz waves discovered in deep-ocean trench

·  http://www.livescience.com/50858-amazing-ocean-waves-billow-train.html

EPA proposes $20M plan to clean up PCBs in 22 miles of the Kalamazoo River

·  http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/05/epa_proposes_plan_to_clean_mor.html

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Enviro-Sciences Bulletin Board – 25 May 2015 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

EPA attempt to ban coal-fired power plants hits legal challenge (video)

·  http://townhall.com/columnists/philkerpen/2015/05/23/epa-plan-to-ban-coal-hits-major-roadblock-n2002814

Weekend storms bring flash floods & tornadoes to Texas & Oklahoma, at least 2 dead

·  http://news.yahoo.com/residents-rescued-flooded-homes-texas-oklahoma-121006744.html

Drought or no drought, California will never have “enough” water

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-california.html

·  http://news.yahoo.com/california-water-cuts-move-those-century-old-rights-070906782--finance.html

Do you live in one of these fastest growing US cities?

·  https://homes.yahoo.com/news/top-15-fastest-growing-cities-211809261.html

Avian flu spreading, flocks being culled, impacting our food supply & pharmaceuticals

·  http://news.yahoo.com/u-bird-flu-causing-egg-squeeze-emergency-measures-051357479--finance.html

Models to predict the reservoir rodents that harbor future zoonotic diseases

·  Paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/05/14/1501598112.full.pdf

California oil spill reminiscent of 1969 event that helped spark environmental movement (video)

·  http://news.yahoo.com/look-california-spill-compares-1969-disaster-182430695.html

·  http://news.yahoo.com/california-oil-sop-starts-thousands-gallons-gathered-073655525.html

·  http://news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-responding-oil-spill-santa-barbara-california-002703613--finance.html

Land use may be more important than future climate change in predicting biodiversity loss

·  http://www.science20.com/news_articles/climate_change_wont_be_the_big_factor_in_future_predicted_diversity_loss-155615

Tracing the toxic legacy of PBB contamination in livestock fed to animals in Michigan

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-toxic-legacy-pbb-contamination.html

Federal government telling cities to include climate change in disaster plans…is that good policy?

·  http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/19/408010685/disaster-agency-to-require-states-to-consider-climate-change-in-plans

Beware of the gympie-gympie plant!!

·  http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/gympie-gympie-plant-sting-can-madden-kill.html

Early forecast for algal blooms in Lake Erie

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-early-season-lake-erie-algal.html

Switching trucks from diesel to natural gas may actually produce net environmental damage

·  http://phys.org/news/2015-05-natural-gas-diesel-climate-impacts.html

Organic produce now accounts for about 12% of that sold in the US

·  http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/organic-produce-now-accounts-for-12-of-sales-in-us-150519?news=856519

The impacts of gold mining on the forests and waters of Peru

·  http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/17/398765777/who-did-this-to-perus-jungle

$2.6 billion Washington DC Clean Rivers Project is described as having environmental goals & using “green infrastructure” but it is still a massive use of resources

·  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-will-use-roof-gardens--among-other-things--to-clean-city-waterways/2015/05/20/0dcbf9f4-ff1b-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html

Life survives even in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest place on Earth

·  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/20/driest-place-on-earth-life_n_7313074.html

WHY? Why build a fake city (with no people living there) in the desert of New Mexico?

·  http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/05/a-giant-fake-city-in-the-middle-of-the-desert/391652/

IMF published Working Paper on the magnitude of global subsidies for energy production…more than the amount spent on public health

·  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/imf-says-energy-subsidies-rise-to-us53trn-more-than-is-spent-on-public-health-20150519-gh4mgx

·  http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2015/05/18/act-local-solve-global-the-5-3-trillion-energy-subsidy-problem/

·  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/energy-subsidies-top-66-trillion-lift-carbon-emissions-by-a-fifth-imf-study-20150519-gh4xyy.html

·  Working Paper: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15105.pdf

New study to track antibiotic resistance from the farm to the food we eat

·  http://phys.org/wire-news/193421498/engineers-and-scientists-to-examine-antibiotic-resistance-in-foo.html

The debate continues over the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on bee populations

·  http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7552_supp/full/521S52a.html

Solar powered ovens to result in clean cooking to reduce pollution in developing countries

·  http://www.nature.com/news/sustainability-clean-cooking-empowers-women-1.17562

New strain of rabies identified in New Mexico … officials issue general warnings to the public

·  http://news.yahoo.com/health-officials-strain-rabies-found-mexico-000219586.html

Ebola: resurgence of cases in West Africa means the outbreak is not over

·  http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-cases-guinea-sierra-leone-show-huge-effort-131330256.html

Reminiscent of the Cuyahoga River, polluted Bellandur Lake in India catches on fire! (video)

·  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/india-lake-pollution-fire_n_7315038.html

Grass plants can uptake and transport infectious prions that cause fatal brain diseases

·  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150515155636.htm

While climate continues to fluctuate, population migration is one-way and results in increasing numbers of people who are not acclimated to conditions

·  http://news.yahoo.com/future-warming-us-not-just-heat-humanity-150049862.html

·  http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/extreme-heat-exposure-4-6-times-mid-century.html

Most distinctive cause of death in each of the 50 states…some may surprise you!

·  http://www.livescience.com/50837-most-distinctive-causes-death-united-states.html

Construction to start this year on pipeline to facilitate wetland restoration in Louisiana

·  http://theadvocate.com/news/5138419-123/construction-nears-on-wetland-restoration

A new type of urban-suburban environment in the heart of Tokyo

·  http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/18/roppongi-hills-tokyo-controversial-new-high-rise-history-of-cities-50-buildings-day-38