Elaine J. Hanford's Bulletin Boards: 1) Geosciences; 2) Enviro-Sciences - 27 July 2015

Although she's in Reno, Elaine has been affected by the Lowell Fire near Gold Run, CA, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. That's near to my old stomping grounds in Truckee, CA.     It is supposed to be contained by 1 August. Let's hope so. 

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Here are the lists as a PDF: Download Bulletin_board_listings_27July2015

As a Word document: Download Bulletin_board_listings_27July2015

Geosciences Bulletin Board – 27 July 2015. Compiled by Elaine J. Hanford. Compilation of selected current news articles pertinent to the discipline. 

Were warnings of “mini ice age” more hoopla than science?

• http://phys.org/news/2015-07-mini-ice-age-hoopla-giant.html

New theory on why the mammoths & other mega fauna went extinct

• http://news.yahoo.com/mighty-mammoths-fell-prey-rapidly-warming-earth-121459749.html

“Kick Em Jenny” volcano is rumbling in the Caribbean Sea on the Lesser Antilles Ridge

• http://phys.org/news/2015-07-undersea-volcano-em-jenny-rumbling.html

NASA seeks investigators of electromagnetic pulses as precursors to earthquakes: establishes “Quest for Quakes” competition with $25,000 prize

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3173689/Could-electromagnetic-pulses-warning-big-one-Nasa-launches-plan-monitor-mysterious-signals.html
• http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-hosts-quest-for-quakes-data-challenge-300118422.html

“Hair ice” is unique and owes its development to a fungus

• http://www.technology.org/2015/07/23/researchers-identify-the-fungus-responsible-for-shaping-the-peculiar-hair-ice/

Great Basin mountain peaks are great places to install fire-spotting camera system

• http://www.technology.org/2015/07/23/fire-spotting-camera-system-installed-on-great-basin-mountain-peaks/

Landmark geological studies in 1960 resolved the meteor crater debate

• http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/benchmarks-july-221960-mineral-discovery-ends-meteor-crater-debate

Mineral Resource of the Month:  Gemstones

• http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/mineral-resource-month-gemstones

Mapping out the trajectory of the three stages of the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake

• http://phys.org/news/2015-07-trajectory-april-earthquake-nepal.html

Satellite imagery reveals the alkaline ring dike complex in Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa

• http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Satellite_imagery_reveals_Pilanesberg_ring_dike_complex_999.html

What happened to the first crust of Earth may have made the planet more inhabitable by life

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150721193957.htm

Tracking some “monster” submarine waves in the South China Sea

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150721193900.htm

Latest survey data may reveal current height of Mount McKinley in Denali National Park

• http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4274#.VbE-OvlViko

USGS conducted analysis of storm-tide impacts from Hurricane Sandy

• http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4272#.VbE-Q_lViko

PECAN may help understanding and prediction of thunderstorms that occur at night

• http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135631&org=GEO&from=news

Earthquake in Rhode Island is reminder that New England is due for a major event

• http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/23/major-earthquake-will-hit-new-england-again-someday/3MAogFwcnqxY6jNU2qkwYP/story.html

Keeping a watchful eye on riverbank erosion in Boulder County along the St Vrain River

• http://www.dailycamera.com/variety/ci_28501725/boulder-county-keeps-an-eye-st-vrain-riverbank

If you want to be “safer” when it comes to natural disasters, where should you travel?  Though there may be other risks there

• https://www.yahoo.com/travel/most-dangerous-and-safest-countries-when-it-comes-124848474857.html

As an area of permafrost continues to melt, this lake may literally “fall off a cliff” into the Mackenzie Valley in NWT, Canada

• http://www.theprovince.com/technology/lake+falling+cliff+permafrost+melt+normal+scientist+warns/11233971/story.html

NASA releases EPIC view of Earth…first in a number of decades

• http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-satellite-camera-provides-epic-view-of-earth

Re-discovering the 190 myo fossils collected by Charles Moore in the 1800s

• http://www.culture24.org.uk/art532634-forgotten-fossils-from-190-million-years-ago-refound-in-bath-collection-of-indomitable-19th-century-geologist

National Monuments designated…will protect mountains, habitat & mammoth remains

• http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/obama-adds-one-million-acres-of-wilderness-to-federal-protection-150722?news=857018

Utah approves plan for Tar Sands Mine in Book Cliffs area but requires water monitoring

• http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/utah-government-gives-go-ahead-to-first-tar-sands-mine-in-us-150723?news=857028

M4.1 in Fremont, California, prompts warning that the Hayward Fault could generate a large EQ

• http://kron4.com/2015/07/21/scientist-warn-hayward-fault-expected-to-produce-large-quake/
• http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/07/21/major-quake-on-hayward-fault-expected-any-day-now-fremont-earthquake/

Planetary geology: New Horizons Spacecraft images of Pluto

• http://www.nature.com/news/vibrant-pluto-stuns-scientists-1.18022

Stream Protection Rule proposed to regulate coal mining impacts on surface waters

• http://cenews.com/post/7419/interior-department-proposes-stream-protection-rules-to-minimize-coal-mining-impacts

New Yorker article on “The Really Big One” emphasizing potential Pacific NW Earthquake results in significant increase in sales of Earthquake Survival Kits 

·      http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/ready-or-not-earthquake-kits-flying-off-the-shelves/

·      http://q13fox.com/2015/07/13/local-experts-respond-to-national-article-depicting-next-big-earthquake-in-pnw/

·      New Yorker:  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one   

Yet another dire warning of catastrophic sea level rise due to global warming

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-hansen-sea-level-rise_55aecb02e4b0a9b94852e7f5
• http://news.yahoo.com/3-things-know-terrifying-climate-study-221518811.html

Enviro-Sciences Bulletin Board – 27 July 2015. Compiled by Elaine J. Hanford. Compilation of selected current news articles pertinent to the discipline.

When will humans learn???  Selfie with a rattlesnake has dire and expensive consequences!

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/20/this-153000-rattlesnake-bite-is-everything-wrong-with-american-health-care/
• http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/man-tries-selfie-with-rattlesnake-gets-snakebit-for-150000/  

Keeping Lake Tahoe blue means controlling runoff that enhances algae

• http://phys.org/news/2015-07-tahoe-blue-algae-clarity-key.html

New report “Global Estimates:  People Displaced by Disasters”

• http://www.enn.com/climate/article/48802
• http://www.internal-displacement.org/global-estimates
• Download link:  http://www.internal-displacement.org/publications/2015/global-estimates-2015-people-displaced-by-disasters
• Report:  http://www.internal-displacement.org/assets/library/Media/201507-globalEstimates-2015/20150713-global-estimates-2015-en-v1.pdf

Sierra Club supports water conservation, Texas to build another pipeline to move water to Tarrant County but the State has not yet created any new reservoirs

• http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article28452094.html

Montana wildfire rages in part of Glacier National Park

• http://www.trust.org/item/20150723182235-sao98/

Radiation at Fukushima Nuclear Plant has resulted in mutant daisies & butterflies

• http://andyjwells.tumblr.com/post/124820230062/man-discovers-mutant-daisies-growing-at
• Video:  http://www.rt.com/news/310577-fukushima-deformed-mutated-daisies/

Resilience versus fail-safe….which is better when thinking about floods & infrastructure?

• http://phys.org/news/2015-07-urban-infrastructure.html

Selfies & wild animals do NOT mix!  When will people learn?

• http://news.yahoo.com/bison-injures-woman-posing-selfie-yellowstone-203026927.html

Nine cases of leprosy have been diagnosed in Florida….armadillos are a reservoir species

• https://www.yahoo.com/health/florida-is-facing-a-leprosy-outbreak-youll-never-124760030587.html

Cecil the lion, the oldest in Zimbabwe Hwang National Park, was killed just beyond the park border

• http://news.yahoo.com/zimbabwe-most-famous-lion-now-hunting-trophy-223805794.html

New vaccine appears successful in combating contagious cancer in Tasmanian Devils…immunized animals to be released into the wild

• http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/huge-step-forward-with-devil-cancer-vaccine-20150722-gihx0m.html

EPA releases new technical guidance on vapor intrusion under RCRA, CERCLA & Brownfields

• http://ehsjournal.org/http:/ehsjournal.org/nadine-weinberg/usepa-releases-vapor-intrusion-technical-guidance/2015/ 
• Brief history:  http://www.newmoa.org/events/docs/39_41/VI_GuidanceWebinarAugust2012.pdf 

Natural yeast Candida albicans produces chemical which inhibits fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats

• http://cavingnews.com/20150722-natural-yeast-byproduct-found-to-inhibit-white-nose-syndrome-fungus

Before you eat that salmon, ask where it came from!  Salmon farmers in Chile use massive amounts of antibiotics

• http://news.yahoo.com/addicted-antibiotics-chiles-salmon-flops-costco-grocers-130612992--finance.html

NSW Environment Protection Authority to permit discharge of saline waters from Springvale Mine to Cox River that flows through World Heritage Area to water supply for Sydney, Australia

• http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/water-issues/blue-mountains-coal-mine-licence-to-permit-highly-saline-discharges-20150722-gih2zs

Revised plan from US Bur of Rec & CWR to build a $15-billion water conveyance system in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

• http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/water_dams/2015/0720-officials-float-new-bay-delta-water-conveyance-plan.asp
• Original plan:  http://www.californiawaterfix.com/news

A fake city built to test cars without drivers…is this logical? (video)

• http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0721/Mcity-Why-is-the-University-of-Michigan-building-a-fake-town-video

Signs that El Niño is strengthening…more alarmist predictions (video)

• http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heavy-storms-in-california-signify-return-of-el-nino/

The snow leopard is great at camouflage…can you find him in the pictures?

• http://www.grindtv.com/wildlife/elusive-nature-of-snow-leopards-captured-in-stunning-photos/#3kvsA76W0HSMbM04.97

Offsetting loss of biodiversity with funding without benefits is not a good thing

• http://www.nature.com/news/conservation-stop-misuse-of-biodiversity-offsets-1.18010

Environmental metrics can be tracked from space, but agreement needed on which metrics to include when assessing global biodiversity

• http://www.nature.com/news/environmental-science-agree-on-biodiversity-metrics-to-track-from-space-1.18009

Flash floods have significant force and can destroy infrastructure

• http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/19/i-10-collapse-california/30399815/
• http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-10-bridge-collapse-travel-woes-32560309
• http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/07/19/desert-center-bridge-collapse/30395123/
• Passed inspection:  http://www.pe.com/articles/highway-773881-bridge-caltrans.html

NYC to develop and improve space underneath infrastructure throughout the city

• http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/seven-ways-revamp-deserted-spaces-under-new-york-citys-highways-elevated-trains-180955726/

Searching for methods to make agriculture more resilient

• http://www.nature.com/news/quest-for-climate-proof-farms-1.18015
• http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/imagine-farming-actually-heals-earth.html

Controlled burns are used to ostensibly increase biodiversity, but may lead to invasive plants

• http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Controlled_burns_increase_invasive_grass_in_hardwood_forests_999.html

"Civilization has been a permanent dialogue between human beings and water." - Paolo Lugari