Elaine J. Hanford's Bulletin Boards: 1) Geoscience; 2) Environmental Science; 3) Coastal Zone Management - 3 April 2023

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Here are the BBs:

PDF:  Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_Boards_3April2023

Word: Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_Boards_3April2023

The articles displayed herein are selected by Dr. Elaine J. Hanford. I do not necessarily agree with the viewpoints expressed and the article descriptions that precede each link.

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Geoscience Bulletin Board – 3 April 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford 

Is cloning an extinct bison from 8,000 years ago possible?

• https://www.livescience.com/scientists-want-to-clone-an-extinct-bison-unearthed-from-siberian-permafrost-experts-are-skeptical

Mohave geology

• https://kdminer.com/news/2023/mar/25/mohave-geology-ever-changing-earth/

Does carbon form graphite or diamond?  Model suggests it all depends on temperature deep in the lithosphere

• https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/trinity-geological-mystery-graphite-diamonds

USGS to measure water levels in 1,400 public & private wells in Snake River Plain aquifer in southern Idaho

• https://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/water-levels-be-measured-1400-southern-idaho-wells

Pioneering vulcanologists

• Part 1: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-changing-face-of-volcanology
• Part 2: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/a-long-way-still-to-go-to-create-representative-volcanology

Yukon Geological Survey anticipating more landslides in Whitehorse as spring melt begins

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-landslides-geological-survey-1.6787762

Perspective:  the best drones for geological mapping & surveying

• https://citylife.capetown/uncategorized/the-best-drones-for-geology-research/11176/

Robert Fournier (1932 - 2023) laid the foundation for understanding the hydrothermal systems of Yellowstone

• https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/a-better-understanding-yellowstone-hot-springs-and-hydrothermal-systems

Geology revealed in stone buildings of Marion, Kansas

• http://marionrecord.com/direct/tour_tells_geological_tale_of_stone_buildings+5427tour+546f75722074656c6c732067656f6c6f676963616c2074616c65206f662073746f6e65206275696c64696e6773

AGSA “Connected Currents” exhibition of the geological history of Alberta, Canada

• https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-entertainment/agsa-exhibition-explores-flow-of-albertas-geological-history-6718119

Geological insights gleaned from the catastrophic reactor meltdown at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant – “re-equilibration textures” in zircons

• https://theconversation.com/chernobyl-was-historys-worst-nuclear-disaster-now-its-teaching-geologists-about-the-history-of-our-planet-201227
• Preprint: http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/Ammin/AM_Preprints/8824FougerousePreprint.pdf

3 minor earthquakes within 3 minutes in San Franciso Bay peninsula

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/3-earthquakes-occur-within-minutes-jolting-california-s-bay-area/ar-AA19b8NP
• USGS: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc73863515/executive

Gold miners saved their fellow workers when trapped in slope failure in DRC - video

• https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/nine-miners-were-trapped-gold-174505631.html

“The Colorado River 150 years after John Wesley Powell” – after 6 million years river no longer reaches the ocean - loss of the river due to human overallocation of water

• https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/scene/events/geologists-talk-colorado-river-running-out-of-time/article_b379d044-7eea-5577-b417-1f23e588c4c2.html

Qingganninginfructus formosa - oldest known angiosperm fossil in China

• https://arkeonews.net/chinese-paleontologists-discovered-a-170-million-year-old-flower/
• Paper: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/3/819

Forget the media hype – formation of ocean in African Rift will take millions & millions of years

• https://www.newsweek.com/east-african-rift-plate-tectonics-new-ocean-1790458

NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown collected samples as it sailed through Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt

• https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/scientists-collect-samples-from-great-atlantic-sargassum-belt-during-unprecedented-bloom/

Godzilla Megamullion Province in the Parece Vela Basin of the Philippine Sea

• https://eos.org/articles/godzilla-gets-a-forever-home-on-the-ocean-floor

Deep-sea sand deposits

• https://eos.org/articles/deep-sea-sand-and-where-to-find-it
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-27138-2

Forecasting tornadoes remains difficult

• https://theconversation.com/why-tornadoes-are-still-hard-to-forecast-even-though-storm-predictions-are-improving-202704

Rain falling on record-setting snowpack in the Sierras

• https://theconversation.com/why-rain-on-snow-in-the-california-mountains-worries-scientists-201742

Did T. rex have scaly lips? – not a toothy grin?

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/t-rex-scaly-lips-study_n_6426f9d9e4b0c8ff0406054b
• https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7877

Did they really need to do this?  Lab-grown cultured meat using genetic sequence from extinct mastodon

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meatball-mammoth-dna_n_64236631e4b0512ca92159e5

Assessing propensity of rivers to generate extreme floods

• https://phys.org/news/2023-03-propensity-rivers-generate-extreme.html
• Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01155-w

Complex relationships among forests, oceanic circulation & climate during Mid Miocene Climate Optimum

• https://phys.org/news/2023-03-ancient-forests-seaways-climate-lessons.html
• Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003101822300127X?via%3Dihub

2023 Earthquake in Turkey was a doublet

• https://phys.org/news/2023-03-earthquake-turkey-doublet-quake-triggered.html
• Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00747-z

Predicting collapse of deep ocean circulation around Antarctica

• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230330102327.htm

Geochronologic & geochemical data from metasedimentary rocks in Lane Mountain area in San Bernardino County, California

• https://www.usgs.gov/publications/geochronologic-and-geochemical-data-metasedimentary-and-associated-rocks-lane-mountain
• USGS OFR 2022-1115: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1115/ofr20221115.pdf

Seabed mining might get green light in 2023 – NGOs calling for moratorium before damage occurs – International Seabed Authority did not approve new rules & regulations

• https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NGOs_fear_seabed_mining_could_get_green_light_in_2023_999.html
• https://phys.org/news/2023-04-body-mulls-deep-sea-demand.html

 Dhinesuchid temnospondyls swam like crocodiles 250 myo

• https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ancient_giant_amphibians_swam_like_crocodiles_250_million_years_ago_999.html
• Paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282354

Anak Krakatoa erupts volcanic ash tower

• https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Indonesias_Anak_Krakatoa_volcano_erupts_belches_huge_ash_tower_999.html

Energy regulator in Alberta, Canada, defends finding that largest recorded earthquake was caused by O&G injection well disposal

• https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/03/30/news/regulator-conclusion-alberta-largest-earthquake-oilpatch

Retreat of alpine glaciers creates more habitat for insects, trees and spawning salmon

• https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/as-glaciers-retreat-new-streams-for-salmon/
• https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2023/glaciers-climate-change-salmon

Call for abstracts for 4^th Philippine International Geothermal Conference in late September

• https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/call-for-abstracts-4th-philippine-international-geothermal-conference-27-28-september/

Impact of plastic bags on the deep-sea floor

• https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/03/31/news/plastic-bags-leaving-their-mark-deep-sea-floor

Weir work on River Cowie exposes gold seam in clastic sedimentary rocks of Cambro-Ordovician age on Highland Boundary Fault

• https://www.thebellman.co.uk/2023/04/01/weir-works-expose-gold-seam/

Environmental Science Bulletin Board – 3 April 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford 

FDA issues new warning over “tranq” – increased trafficking in deadly fentanyl mixed with xylazine – chemicals sourced from China & illegally trafficked across Southern Border by Mexican drug cartels

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/everybody-dropping-flies-federal-tranq-024953548.html
• FDA Alert: https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-reports-widespread-threat-fentanyl-mixed-xylazine

What you might want to know about gene therapy – “safer” than viral vector delivery – but what are the risks and what are the ethical questions? What about consequences of accelerated approval?

• https://www.livescience.com/gene-therapy-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dna-tweaking-treatments
• https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/06/forthcoming-genetic-therapies-serious-ethical-questions-experts
• https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/fda-gene-therapy-head-raises-concern-on-accelerated-approval-use

Corsican wildcats could be a new subspecies

• https://www.livescience.com/legendary-cat-fox-could-be-a-new-subspecies

This is the kind of myopic thinking (i.e., policy) that got California in trouble when the drought began

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/california-ends-some-water-limits-after-storms-ease-drought/ar-AA192BEO

Minderoo-Monaco Commission of Plastics & Human Health – analysis of negative impacts – killing ourselves, the environment and the economy

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21032023/plastics-cradle-grave-toxic-research-lifecycle/
• Links: https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/collections/special/the-minderoo-monaco-commission-on-plastics-and-human-health/
• Editorial: https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.5334/aogh.4100/
• Perspective: https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.5334/aogh.4083/  
• Paper: https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.5334/aogh.4056/

UN 2023 Water Conference – making clean water & sanitation a human right – but who caused the problems? – freshwater ecosystems threatened, rapidly lost or degraded by human activities – call for less rhetoric

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25032023/un-water-conference-mina-guli/
• IDAW 2018-2028: https://www.un.org/en/events/waterdecade/
• SDG6: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6
• https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00886-5

Another meaningless abuse-of-power effort by government in the name of “man-made global warming” – 106M metric tons over 3 decades is a drop in the bucket compared to global annual emissions of 36.8Gt

• https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/biden-admin-cracks-down-air-144158639.html
• IEA CO2 emissions in 2022: https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2022

DDT was banned, but stockpiles were dumped into the ocean (in barrels & poured straight into the water) – persistent man-made organic compound that is still polluting the environment beyond dumpsite borders

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-uncover-startling-concentrations-pure-222417576.html
• https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-03-23/scientists-uncover-startling-concentrations-of-pure-ddt-along-seafloor-off-l-a-coast

The “mRNA Renaissance” is coming… beware – long-term impacts of genetic vaxxing (and other gene therapies) is not known – “vaccines being developed for opioid addiction, to prevent smoking, to treat Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, and many others” – messing ‘round with forces beyond their ability to grasp

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/how-mrna-vaccines-could-target-everything-from-cancer-to-the-plague/ar-AA193STq

McKinney, Texas, presents preliminary findings of Draft Environmental Impact for airport

• https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/mckinney-presents-preliminary-airport-environmental-study-findings/article_5bf04a9c-ca68-11ed-9256-af7de2730f88.html

Chemical spill from acrylic resin plant upstream of Delaware River intake for Philadelphia drinking water – officials say drinking water is now safe

• https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/us/delaware-river-chemical-spill-philadelphia-monday/index.html
• https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-water-contamination-threat-over/

Second leak of radioactive waters from Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota

• https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-plant-radioactive-leak-minnesota-5e3b7d56d3a232a86b7e86d3d632533a

Enormous amount of debris from earthquake in Turkey contains potentially hazardous materials & pollution

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earthquake-debris-could-create-an-environmental-catastrophe-in-tuerkiye-and-syria/

Louisiana has plugged 100+ abandoned oil wells – more than 4,500 remain

• https://apnews.com/article/orphan-wells-louisiana-5a73b8adfe5df7338079531ed08f7322

Rewilding should occur – not because of “man-made global warming” but because it restores biodiversity and balance to the environment in a multitude of ways counteracting other human activities

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27032023/rewilding-animals-carbon-storage/

The quest for truth about the origins of covid

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/being-truthful-is-essential-scientist-who-stumbled-upon-wuhan-covid-data-speaks-out/ar-AA199bwf
• Paper: https://zenodo.org/record/7754299#.ZCMmi8rMKUm

Young Western red cedar trees are dying

• https://www.ijpr.org/environment-energy-and-transportation/2023-03-26/new-study-sounds-alarm-provides-hope-for-the-northwests-western-red-cedars

Another train derailment – this time carrying iron ore across the Mojave National Preserve – rail reopened

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/iron-ore-train-derailed-in-the-mojave-desert/vi-AA19d04N
• https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2023/03/28/train-derails-in-mojave-national-preserve-east-of-barstow/70054506007/
• https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/union-pacific-reopens-cima-subdivision-after-derailment-of-runaway-iron-ore-train/
• Video: https://www.abc15.com/news/state/mohave-county-train-derailment-under-investigation

Successful urban water conservation in the Colorado River Basin – except for California

• https://eos.org/articles/urban-water-conservation-success-in-the-colorado-river-basin

Politicians call for US Army COE to accelerate repair of breached Pajaro River levee in California

• https://www.ksbw.com/article/senators-reps-urge-us-army-corps-of-engineers-to-accelerate-pajaro-river-levee-project/43442647#

Cincinnati Zoo to collect & reuse stormwater for maintaining habitats

• https://www.fox19.com/2023/03/26/cincinnati-zoo-add-stormwater-tanks-providing-nearly-100-water-usage-zoos-habitats/

WHO says healthy adults do not need repeated vaxx boosters – booster fatigue

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/healthy-adults-don-t-need-to-keep-getting-covid-19-boosters-says-who/ar-AA19ecs3
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/covid-vaccine-fatigue-study-explores-why-many-are-refusing-booster-shots/ar-AA19gsWi
• Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02282-y

Perspective:  Net Zero is a Trojan horse for the total destruction of Western society

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/net-zero-is-a-trojan-horse-for-the-total-destruction-of-western-society/ar-AA19eKvr

Sowing rancor & division that got our culture to a point of killing children

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/6-people-are-dead-and-all-jokin-joe-biden-can-do-is-sow-the-rancor-and-division-that-got-us-here/ar-AA19fkTt

Perspective:  Our bottled water habit stands in the way of universal clean drinking water

• https://www.popsci.com/environment/drinking-water-plastic-bottle-sustainability/
• UN Report: https://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UNU_BottledWater_Report_F.pdf

USDA updated Lab Data Mart website

• https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFARMERS/bulletins/3519af5
• https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soil/lab-data-mart

Cold weather helps contain derailment chemical spill of liquid asphalt & ethylene glycol in North Dakota

• https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-derailment-canadian-pacific-railroad-3a75c031b8012f53f4edce10c3a569c6

Baltimore, Maryland, refuses 675,000 galls of pretreated wastewater from derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio

• https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3922365-baltimore-mayor-rejects-request-to-process-east-palestine-wastewater/

$7.7M research project to develop fiber-reinforced polymers, sensors, AI & drones for dams and levees – 4 types of FRPs:  aramid (AFRP), basalt (BFRP), carbon (CFRP) & glass (GFRP) – tech & economic implications

• http://today.ku.edu/2023/03/29/ku-researchers-strengthen-american-dams-and-levees-technological-innovation
• Implications:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128205495000218

Permit denial would be backdoor mechanism for shutting down 1,151 MW Rainbow Energy Center - biggest power plant in North Dakota – Midwest power grid could lose 8M MW electricity each year

• https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/north-dakotas-biggest-power-plant-would-shut-down-for-3-years-if-permit-denial-sticks

Successful urban water conservation in the Colorado River Basin – except for California

• https://eos.org/articles/urban-water-conservation-success-in-the-colorado-river-basin

PFAS forever chemicals are bioaccumulating in livestock – can levels be decreased?

• https://theconversation.com/pfas-for-dinner-study-of-forever-chemicals-build-up-in-cattle-points-to-ways-to-reduce-risks-201553

Vjosa River – last wild river in Europe – now protected by National Park Status in Albania

• https://www.treehugger.com/europes-last-wild-river-national-park-designation-7367784

Record-breaking human lifespan by 2060? – but human population is already 8X carrying capacity of Earth

• https://www.sciencealert.com/record-breaking-human-lifespans-predicted-by-the-year-2060-heres-why

Congressional Colorado River Caucus to address drought conditions in Colorado River Basin

• https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/lawmakers-launch-colorado-river-caucus-amid-battle-for-water-rights

Urban sprawl & agricultural development have led to decline in avian populations in California

• https://beta.nsf.gov/news/climate-change-urbanization-drive-declines-las
• Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abn0250

Smithsonian Institute vast insect collection described as priceless resource for USDA pest identifiers

• https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/ppq-program-overview/plant-protection-today/articles/aphis-smithsonian-move-collections

California building more & more solar parks – ugly conversions of what used to be agricultural lands

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26032023/california-solar-san-joaquin-valley/

DNA patterns in dogs living in Chernobyl exclusion zone since Nuclear Reactor meltdown – rapid evolution?

• https://currently.att.yahoo.com/finance/news/dogs-chernobyl-experiencing-rapid-evolution-140000615.html
• Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.ade2537

Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board – 3 April 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford 

Call for moratorium on offshore wind farms – invoking the Precautionary Principle

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24032023/republicans-propose-nationwide-offshore-wind-ban-citing-unsubstantiated-links-to-whale-deaths/

Oregon coast lava, gray whales & dead landmarks

• https://www.beachconnection.net/news/newport_depoe_striking_science032823.php

Wagner Park in New York will be torn down & raised by 10 feet as part of $221M “climate resilience plan”

• https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/25/new-york-will-demolish-elevate-waterfront-park-to-fight-floods.html

History of Vacherie Gheens, Louisiana

https://www.lafourchegazette.com/columns/louisiana_dread/louisiana-dread-the-history-of-gheens/article_6cf61b8c-cd88-11ed-8c00-d35a48de1c18.html

The challenges of offshore wind projects – anchored or floating platforms?

• https://www.powermag.com/the-tremendous-potential-and-challenge-of-offshore-wind-energy/

Marine Stewardship Council calls for long-term quota-sharing agreement for harvesting Northeast Atlantic mackerel – risk to mackerel stock remains high

• https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/msc-calls-on-coastal-states-to-act-decisively-on-northeast-atlantic-mackerel-quotas

Coastal restoration funding in Louisiana from the Deepwater Horizon Spill will soon run out – what then?

• https://www.nola.com/news/environment/coastal-cliff-threatens-louisiana-restoration-projects/article_08fbf0d8-c8f7-11ed-ae7e-9704e56c1787.html

Concentrations of micro-plastics in UK coastal waters are up to 100 times greater than 6 years ago

• https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2023/03/british-coastal-waters-feature-100-times-more-microplastics-than-six-years-ago/

US East Coast salt marshes keeping pace with sea level over past century – nature adapts

• https://www.miragenews.com/coastal-salt-marshes-keeping-pace-with-rising-976102/
• Paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022EF003037

Potentially fatal Vibrio vulnificus infections are increasing & spreading up the East Coast

• https://weather.com/health/news/2023-03-23-flesh-eating-bacteria-expands-up-us-east-coast

New size limits might be imposed for lobster catch – juvenile lobsters declining

• https://www.nationalfisherman.com/lobstermen-could-face-new-size-limits-for-catch

US Government seeking to support & subsidize even more offshore wind projects

• https://apnews.com/article/binde-offshore-wind-power-plan-announcement-1cfa8537ac0dafa87f2d388502f53e18

After H. Ian, Fort Myers Beach wants to become “functional paradise” by building taller structures

• https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1165410279/hurricane-ian-fort-myers-beach-slow-rebuilding

Galápagos Deep 2023 Expedition will explore biology, geology & history

• https://galapagosdeep2023.com/

Update:  Long Bridge Project across Potomac River

• https://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Virginia-rail-authority-issues-RFQ-for-Long-Bridge-project--68928
• https://vapassengerrailauthority.org/longbridgeproject/

Seabirds suffering from plasticosis

• https://theconversation.com/seabirds-that-swallow-ocean-plastic-waste-have-scarring-in-their-stomachs-scientists-have-named-this-disease-plasticosis-201506
• Link to download paper: https://adriftlab.org/publications/%E2%80%98plasticosis%E2%80%99-characterising-macro-and-microplastic-associated-fibrosis-in-seabird-tissues/

Dominican border wall to deter illegal immigrants poses threat to mangroves

• https://phys.org/news/2023-03-dominican-border-wall-threatens-environment.html

Medieval village on Norfolk coast of England being eroded into the sea – District Council wisely decided that risk to property & community was “not sufficient to economically justify building new defenses along this frontage.”

• https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/a-medieval-english-village-is-being-swallowed-by-the-sea-1.1903420

Research may help East Coast wild bay scallop fisheries

• https://civileats.com/2023/03/27/scientists-scramble-to-help-bay-scallops-survive-climate-change/

"If they don't give you a seat at the able, bring a folding chair." - Shirley Chisholm