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Colossal Crater Found in Siberia. What Made It?

9/30/2020

This is just the latest in a series of such curious craters discovered in the Siberian Arctic, after the first was identified in 2014. Scientists believe they form from blasts of methane and carbon dioxide gas trapped within mounds of dirt and ice—a phenomenon that may be increasingly common as the climate warms. - National Geographic

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We Made Wildfire an Enemy for 110 Years. It Could Have Been an Ally.

9/26/2020

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Starting with the Big Blowup of 1910, the U.S. Forest Service’s strategy mostly has been to put out fires as fast as possible. With climate change and shifting populations, we’re losing that war. - NYTimes

The efforts to suppress wildfires, particularly in the American West — as seen here in Oregon in 1955 — have often resembled military campaigns, in both their approach and equipment. Image Credit J. R. Eyerman / The LIFE Picture Collection, via Getty Images

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40% of O'ahu, Hawai'i Beaches Could be Lost by Mid-Century

9/25/2020

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If policies are not changed, as much as 40% of all beaches on O'ahu, Hawai'i could be lost before mid-century, according to a new study by researchers in the Coastal Geology Group at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa. In an era of rising sea level, beaches need to migrate landward, otherwise they drown. Beach migration, also known as shoreline retreat, causes coastal erosion of private and public beachfront property. Shoreline hardening, the construction of seawalls or revetments, interrupts natural beach migration -- causing waves to erode the sand, accelerating coastal erosion on neighboring properties, and dooming a beach to drown in place as the ocean continues to rise. - Science Weekly

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Meteorite Crater Discovered Drilling for Outback Gold Estimated to Be 100MY

9/25/2020

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Geologists say they have discovered a large meteorite crater in outback Western Australia, which could be up to five times bigger than the famous Wolfe Creek Crater in the state's remote north. A team of geologists led by geological consultant Dr Jayson Meyers is behind the discovery in WA's Goldfields Initial estimates suggest the asteroid that created the crater collided with the Earth 100 million years ago. It is not visible from the surface but electromagnetic surveys, which map the rocks below, suggest the crater has a diameter of around 5 kilometres. - ABC (Australia)

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Rat That Sniffs Out Land Mines Receives Award for Bravery

9/25/2020

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Note - This has nothing to do with geology, but it is so cute that I had to share this happy distraction.

Magawa, a 5-year-old African giant pouched rat, was recognized with a prestigious honor for his work detecting mines and explosives in Cambodia.

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Using Dirt to Clean Up Construction

9/25/2020

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Concrete ranks as the most popular construction material in the world. But its key ingredient, cement, is responsible for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions each year. Scientists want to replace concrete with a more environmentally friendly material, and one candidate is soil. In one of the most recent iterations of these efforts, the Banerjee Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University has created a tool kit for using local soil to make construction materials. - EOS

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New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States

9/23/2020

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Warming temperatures and changing rainfall will drive agriculture and temperate climates northward, while sea level rise will consume coastlines and dangerous levels of humidity will swamp the Mississippi River valley. Taken with other recent research showing that the most habitable climate in North America will shift northward and the incidence of large fires will increase across the country, this suggests that the climate crisis will profoundly interrupt the way we live and farm in the United States. See how the North American places where humans have lived for thousands of years will shift and what changes are in store for your county. - ProPublica / PNAS

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Earth Barreling Toward 'Hothouse' State Not Seen in 50 Million Years - Study

9/23/2020

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"Now that we have succeeded in capturing the natural climate variability, we can see that the projected anthropogenic warming will be much greater than that," study co-author James Zachos, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a statement. "The IPCC projections for 2300 in the 'business-as-usual' scenario will potentially bring global temperature to a level the planet has not seen in 50 million years." - Live Science / Science

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California Fire Map, Bobcat Blaze 'Continues to Advance,' Burns Over 100,000 Acres

9/23/2020

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California wildfires have burned over 3.6 million acres of the state so far this year, with 26 reported deaths and more than 6,400 structures destroyed since August 15, according to the latest report Monday from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Over 19,000 firefighters are currently battling 27 major fires in California, according to Cal Fire's report Monday, including the Bobcat Fire in Los Angeles County, which has burned over 100,000 acres. - Newsweek

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How Beavers Became North America's Best Firefighter

9/23/2020

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A new study concludes that, by building dams, forming ponds, and digging canals, beavers irrigate vast stream corridors and create fireproof refuges in which plants and animals can shelter. In some cases, the rodents’ engineering can even stop fire in its tracks.
“It doesn't matter if there’s a wildfire right next door,” says study leader Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist at California State University Channel Islands. “Beaver-dammed areas are green and happy and healthy-looking.” - National Geographic / Apple News

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<<Previous

Colossal Crater Found in Siberia. What Made It?

We Made Wildfire an Enemy for 110 Years. It Could Have Been an Ally.

40% of O'ahu, Hawai'i Beaches Could be Lost by Mid-Century

Meteorite Crater Discovered Drilling for Outback Gold Estimated to Be 100MY

Rat That Sniffs Out Land Mines Receives Award for Bravery

Using Dirt to Clean Up Construction

New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States

Earth Barreling Toward 'Hothouse' State Not Seen in 50 Million Years - Study

California Fire Map, Bobcat Blaze 'Continues to Advance,' Burns Over 100,000 Acres

How Beavers Became North America's Best Firefighter

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