It's @AWRAHQ's #WebinarWednesday! Dr. @chihosham, 21 June 2023, 1-2 PM EDT. Register: tinyurl.com/ywb2xrbu
WEBINAR: Protecting Drinking Water Sources through Collaborative Planning and Management
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Geoscience Bulletin Board – 19 June 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford
Treasure trove of dinosaur fossils in Australia
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/only-5-feet-down-under-a-dinosaur-graveyard-turned-up-in-australia-it-s-sparking-a-paleontological-revolution-in-the-country/ar-AA1cpvKy
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/bloody-everywhere-australia-s-incredible-dinosaur-boom/ar-AA1csDAY
Mineral Wells Fossil Park in Texas lets you dig free for fossils and keep what you find
Biggest ammonite fossil ever found – 1.8 meters diameter Parapuzosia seppenradensis
The infamous Gupta Scandal – falsified data & stolen fossils – death threats
Do not let greed over-ride the lessons that should have been learned from geologic history of the Hayward fault
More evidence humans hunted & contributed to extinction of megafauna at end of last Ice Age
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/forensic-evidence-suggests-paleo-americans-hunted-mastodons-mammoths-and-other-megafauna-in-eastern-north-america-13-000-years-ago/ar-AA1cxyDD
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36617-z
Top 5 “weirdest” dinosaurs
7 of the scariest dinosaurs - only one is a plant eater
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/7-of-the-scariest-dinosaurs-the-world-has-ever-seen/ar-AA1cip6k
Explaining derecho – you would think the Weather Channel would get it right – to be clear: derecho is widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system
Large marine potholes off the coast of South Africa on sediment-free aeolianite platform
Modeling whole atmosphere response to Hunga-Tonga Ha’apai volcanic eruption
- https://eos.org/editor-highlights/modeling-whole-atmosphere-responses-to-the-hunga-tonga-eruption
- Paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103682
Visualizing lithium production and reserves by country – more than 70% from only two counties
New geothermal features & eruptions on Geyser Hill in Yosemite
Potential impacts of UN high seas treaty – will likely be adopted by UN but needs to be ratified by 60+ countries
M6.2 deep (75 miles) earthquake in Philippines near Hukay
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-deep-magnitude-earthquake-philippines-southwest.html
- https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000k8jz/executive
Scientists need to spend more time in the rain to make human observations – more effective than remote sampling & models & virtual experiments to understand natural systems
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/991349
- Paper: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biad044/7191438
“Dirtiest” snow year in Wasatch may have accelerated snowmelt
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992694
- Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acd409/pdf
Link between craton surface topography and thickness of underlying lithosphere
Stagnant lid regime versus plate tectonics and the origins of life
- https://www.sci.news/space/plate-tectonics-life-12007.html
- https://scitechdaily.com/craton-deception-geologists-challenge-conventional-view-of-earths-continental-history-and-stability/
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06024-5
Nutrient and suspended sediment concentrations, flux & yields in Galena River in Illinois
- https://www.usgs.gov/publications/nutrient-and-suspended-sediment-concentrations-flux-and-yields-galena-river-illinois
- USGS SIR 2023-5044: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5044/sir20235044.pdf
Hydrogeology of sand & gravel aquifers in Owasco Inlet watershed in New York State
- https://www.usgs.gov/publications/hydrogeology-sand-and-gravel-aquifers-owasco-inlet-watershed-cayuga-and-tompkins
- USGS SIR 2023=5031: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5031/sir20235031.pdf
Flat Earthers along with CO2 global warming alarmists are overconfident, but have low level of scientific literacy (basic facts, understanding scientific methods, quantitative reasoning, and cognitive reflection)
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/flat-earthers-are-overconfident-about-their-own-scientific-knowledge-but-exhibit-low-scientific-literacy-study-finds/ar-AA1cxT3V
- https://www.psypost.org/2023/06/flat-earthers-are-overconfident-about-their-own-scientific-knowledge-but-exhibit-low-scientific-literacy-study-finds-165795
Paper: Monitoring underground coal gasification by acoustic emission technique
Groundwater availability from volcanic aquifers in Hawaiian Islands
- https://www.usgs.gov/publications/availability-groundwater-volcanic-aquifers-hawaiian-islands
- USGS Fact Sheet 2023-3010: https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2023/3010/fs20233010.pdf
More rapid formation of Earth
- https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Earth_was_created_much_faster_than_we_thought_999.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06135-z
Earth had 19-hour day for over a billion years when Moon was much closer – mid-Proterozoic tidal resonance
- https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Earth_had_an_19_hour_day_for_a_billion_years_999.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01202-6
Glass is an amazing material whether obsidian or man-made
Correlation between global seismic activity & changes in intensity of cosmic radiation – is it cause & effect?
Long-burning coal seam fires – Burning Mountain in Australia
Paleomagnetism in lava flows in Hawaii – Duane Champion unlocked secrets of Pele
Human extraction of estimated 2,150 gigatons of groundwater has largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole – removal of groundwater mass caused nearly 32 inches of polar shift over 3 decades
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2023/06/16/humans-are-pumping-so-much-water-out-of-the-ground-that-earths-tilt-is-changing/?sh=10cfe5df5ce2
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-weve-groundwater-nudged-earth.html
- Paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103509
Exploring salt structures in Newfoundland, Canada, for potential hydrogen storage
Photo-essay: Major landslide at Birenz-Brinzauls occurred overnight
- https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2023/06/16/brienz-brinzauls-failure/
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-mass-mountainside-evacuated-swiss-village.html
- https://phys.org/news/2023-05-swiss-villagers-told-evacuate-alpine.html
Ontong Java Plateau near Solomon Islands is relatively young (117 to 108 mya) & had protracted eruption
Tiny marine animals play key role as ocean absorbs 30% of CO2 in Carbon Cycle
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-oceans-absorb-emissions-driven-huge.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00871-w
Warning that Kīlauea may erupt Pele’s hair strands of volcanic glass
All 58 California counties offer unique geological, ecological & man-made footprints – Topanga State Park
- https://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/local-news/every-one-of-californias-58-counties-offer-unique-geological-ecological-manmade-footprints/
- https://www.california.com/an-insiders-guide-to-topanga-state-park/
What does the oldest water on Earth taste like?
Photo-essay: Invasive grasses provide fuel for Geology Fire in Joshua Tree National Park
Airborne electromagnetic study of aquifers & subsurface geology in Eastern El Paso County, Wyoming
Recognizing geological risks of subsurface carbon dioxide storage beneath the seabed
- https://ieefa.org/articles/norways-carbon-capture-and-storage-projects-augur-geological-risks-global-aspirations-bury
- Report: https://ieefa.org/resources/norways-sleipner-and-snohvit-ccs-industry-models-or-cautionary-tales
Second area identified for testing to determine suitability as high-level radioactive waste respository in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
NSTA free online database for all onshore hydrocarbon boreholes in the UK – BGS GeoIndex Onshore
- https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/a-new-open-dataset-to-benefit-onshore-geoscience-research/
- BGS GeoIndex: https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html?layer=BGSHydrocarbonWellData&_ga=2.106070592.214759525.1687029552-633660180.1687029552
7 new landslides in Utah over the past three weeks – more than 200 since January
Capital Reef National Park in Utah
New online USGS database of geochronology data
- https://www.usgs.gov/news/technical-announcement/new-online-tool-serves-usgs-geochronology-data-state-art-way
- Geochron Database: https://apps.usgs.gov/geochron_database_explorer/
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Environmental Science Bulletin Board – 19 June 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford
Critters & safety for swimming in the Brazos River in Texas – 11th longest river in the country
Triple Crown Racing leads to death of yet another horse – selective breeding leading to deaths – trainers violating rules to protect safety of horses – over-drugging in quest for win – horses euthanized at Belmont Park
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/a-horse-died-in-final-race-after-belmont-stakes/ar-AA1co0h6
- https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/horse-racing-best-trainers-rake-100831975.html
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/2-horses-die-at-belmont-park-adding-another-black-eye-for-sport-during-triple-crown-season/ar-AA1cpI5m
What is wrong with this picture? Health Centre includes trans & non-binary options for registration of newborns
Technological hazard in the making: autonomous “driverless” trucks on two corridors in Texas
What to do when it is too hot for solar panels? Fire up the old coal plant
Iceland lawmakers unanimously pass conversion therapy ban – will protect children – while California considering bill to cause parents to lose custody disputes if they do not favor gender identity or conversion
Perspective: Thinking smartly about climate change – the economics of net-zero CO2 do not make sense
US Army COE says Arkabutla Dam is currently stable – downgraded emergency declaration
Manipulating “data” to support a ‘global warming’ cause for wildfires in Canada – compare with CNFDB data that shows annual variation in fires but with decreasing number and extent of acra burned since late 1980s
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/12/canada-record-wildfire-season-statistics/
- https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/ha/nfdb
On freeing 400 miles of the Klamath River and the salmon from the dams (video)
EPA may allow farmers to use chlormequat chloride pesticide on edible crops – linked to reproductive and developmental health issues – risks to humans, reptiles birds, amphibians, mammals & invertebrates
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/experts-slam-new-regulation-proposal-allowing-farmers-to-use-restricted-chemical-on-food-crops-a-legal-duty-to-protect-children/ar-AA1cvlRm
- https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-proposes-register-new-uses-pesticide-chlormequat-chloride
- Chemical data: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Chlormequat-chloride#section=Chemical-Classes
That was not a real whale leaping to freedom in “Free Willy”
Wolves go fishing – widespread behavior caught on camera (Video)
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/pets/footage-of-wolves-fishing-in-minnesota-changes-what-we-know-about-wolf-behavior/ar-AA1cxJgo
- Paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.1098/rsos.230210
Tribal battle against proposed Oak Flat copper mine on sacred land in Arizona – broken treaties
Biden administration wants to throw tons of money at skunkworks infrastructure program
Autonomous taxi service adding to the chaos on the streets of San Francisco – questions remain unanswered
Deep Borehole Demonstration Center in Cameron, Texas, to asses deep borehole nuclear waste disposal technologies - an end-to-end, non-radioactive demonstration
Testing permeable asphalt, plastic grid pavers, permeable concrete & permeable interlocking concrete pavers to determine if they can improve water quality – test site overlies Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone – testing for suspended solids, heavy metals, bacteria and metals emitted from vehicles.
Snow making for ski tourism in Canada & Europe consumes energy & water & contributes to emissions - Annually, snowmakers use 478,000 MW-hours of electricity & 43.4M cubic meters of water yielding 130,095 tons CO2e emissions
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/new-study-on-snowmaking-sparks-environmental-concerns/ar-AA1cy8BH
- Report: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2023.2214358
Acute illness and death of 5 meerkats in Philadelphia Zoo linked to dye applied to them for “identification”
Biden administration ban on economic oil, gas & mineral extraction on federally owned lands denies Native Americans economic development
The Terminator urges talking about pollution – not “climate change” since pollution kills
US taxpayer money funded three Wuhan Lab experiments that included gain-of-function research on viruses
Lab-grown synthetic human embryos – how many ethical & legal questions does this raise?
- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/14/synthetic-human-embryos-created-in-groundbreaking-advance \
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/lab-grown-synthetic-human-embryos-developed-without-an-egg-for-the-first-time-report/ar-AA1cyLxi
Yet another moronic person gets dangerously close to Bison in Yellowstone
Vaccine-derived polio occurs in under-immunized populations – 665 cases across 23 countries
- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01953-7
- GPEI Map: https://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06212-3
Captive-bred Scottish Wildcats “Highland Tigers” released into wild to try to save species from extinction
Visualizing the 4-billion-year path that led to human evolution – an occasionally broken chain
Visualizing the longest- range (and most expensive $45,500 to $138,000) EVs for 2023 in the US market
Chemicals in cosmetics threaten reproductive health of teen & 20-something women – parabens, phthalates & triclosan are endocrine disruptors
Alcohols in windshield washer fluid are significant source of vehicle-related pollution – 2X VOCs in exhaust
- https://www.treehugger.com/windshield-washer-fluid-dirty-little-secret-7505350
- Paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c00845
Endangered orangutans are threatened by wildfire smoke
Caeruleuptychia harrisi – new species of butterfly discovered in Amazonia
Papaya farmers in Kenya willing to reduce chemical pesticide use to fight mealybugs (Paracoccus marginatus) – biological control is more sustainable
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992679
- Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43170-023-00161-7#citeas
Contact lenses shed micro-plastics – health impacts unclear
Daylight Saving Time saves lives & money – but Congress has failed to pass simple bill to adopt it year round
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992662
- Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.4715
A better way to track wildlife – “Kinefox” has capacitor instead of batteries
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992581
- Paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0285930
Trimming of horse muzzle & ear hair has been banned – but ban not fully complied with
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992145
- Paper: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/hai.2023.0023
Neanderthal DNA impacts modern humans
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195656.htm
- Paper: https://elifesciences.org/articles/80757
Grizzly bears are resilient in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
- https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/a-changing-ecosystem-yellowstone-grizzly-bears-are-resilient
- Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16759
Basic preconditions to actualizing Indigenous knowledge in tribal wildlife management
- https://www.usgs.gov/publications/actualizing-indigenous-knowledge-tribal-wildlife-management-basic-preconditions
- Paper: https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.1467
Predators decrease prey disease levels & population size – result is health herd
- https://new.nsf.gov/news/healthy-depleted-herd-predators-decrease-prey
- Paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4063
Water demand by humans outpacing global water reservoir volumes despite construction boom
Estimated $450M cost to upgrade safety of 81 “high hazard” dams in Utah
$1.8B Yusufeli hydroelectric dam project on Çoruh River in Turkey
Google gets approval to build massive new neighborhood in Mountain View, California – will include 7,000 high-density residential units, commercial & office space, school, and 26-acres of parks & open space
Possible links between use of Ozempic and pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer & thyroid cancers
Importance of native plants and root systems in grassland ecosystems
Proposing formalization of 80% fee reductions (i.e, subsidies) for wind & solar on federal land – open for public comment for 60 days – aim to finalize in 2024
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/u-s-proposes-to-formalize-deep-fee-reductions-for-wind-solar-on-federal-land/ar-AA1cBBqF
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/inappropriate-solar-companies-rip-biden-over-proposed-conservation-rules/ar-AA1cB5IA
- https://www.blm.gov/press-release/interior-department-proposes-rule-bolster-solar-and-wind-development-public-lands
- Virtual sessions: https://www.blm.gov/renewable-energy-rule
- Unofficial proposed rule: https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2023-06/Renewable%20Energy%20Rule%20_FINAL%20-CLEAN%20with%20Unofficial%20Copy%20Warning%206-14-23.pdf
GMA will not film live from downtown San Francisco - “Simply too dangerous”
Utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Fresno County, California
Canadian small modular nuclear reactor project could be located just 4 miles from border with North Dakota
Brightmark’s “advanced” plastics recycling plant in Indiana – toxic vapors, oil spills, plastic dust, fires…
- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16062023/indiana-advanced-plastics-recycling-vapors-spills-fires/
Cost of water is rising as it becomes more scare – closer to actual value as necessity of life
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Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board - 19 June 2023 - compiled by E.J. Hanford
50+ potentially harmful chemicals identified in waters off the coasts of Hampshire & West Sussex – an array of pharmaceutical drugs & pesticides
Dead fish washing up on beaches along the Gulf Coast
Finding shipwrecks in the Skerki Bank off the coasts of Sicily and Tunisia
Predicting “below average” Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico this summer – discharge of Mississippi & Atchafalaya Rivers about 33% below average though May
GAO investigating impacts of offshore wind development on whales – whale deaths adding up on East coast – another 3,400 offshore wind turbines planned for Jersey Shore
Coastal biomedical labs in the US are bleeding horseshoe crabs – little accountability & impacts threatened migratory shorebird species as horseshoe populations are depleted
“retreating” from hurricane zones with FEMA buyouts – retreating homeowners do not move far
Pod of 20 orcas spotted off California coast near San Francisco
Newly planted vegetation accelerates coastal dune erosion during storms
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-newly-vegetation-dune-erosion-extreme.html
- Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg7135
Suggesting controlled burns in coastal areas could reduce wildfire smoke exposure
- https://phys.org/news/2023-06-limit-megafires-california-oregon-washington.html
- Paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022EF003468
Light pollution disrupts coastal woodlouse – diffuse light makes them turn paler & reduces camouflage
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992360
- Paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.0725
Pseudo-nitzschia spp., algae produce neurotoxin domoic acid in Indian River Lagoon in Florida
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992589
- Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S156898832300063X?via%3Dihub
Controversy over tunnels in the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta continues to rage
Backlash over plans from big fishing company to farm & slaughter million octopuses a year in Canary Islands
High levels of enterococcus bacteria at Linda Mar Beach in California – levels exceeded health standards at least 8 times so far this year
Autonomous catamaran ferry crossing the waters of Stockholm, Sweden – capacity for 25 passengers – uses AI “digital captain” but has human supervisor on board
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"Remember when I said if you helped out on that committee work, I’d remember when it came time to do evaluations? I forgot." - @ass_deans
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