Each year, nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in an Antarctic ice core has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes in the Earth's past climate.
Scientists believe that Florida's very active 2004 hurricane season may have played an important part in the development of extensive red tide conditions that affected its coastal areas in 2005. The four hurricanes that crossed the Sunshine State in 2004 dumped as much as 27 inches of rain in central Florida, which increased ground water levels and rates of surface runoff, two factors thought to create conditions ripe for the bloom of a red tide.
Chena Hot Springs, just outside Fairbanks, is the first geothermal power plant to come on-line in the state; it also is the site of the lowest temperature resource ever used for commercial power generation.
Kansas Geological Survey senior scientist James Butler Jr., Ph.D., has been chosen as the 2007 Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer in Ground Water Science by the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation.
Ancient plant remains recovered in recent Arctic Ocean sampling cores shows that during a period of carbon dioxide-induced global warming, humidity, precipitation and salinity of the ocean water altered drastically, along with elevated global and regional temperatures.
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, New York, is converting its present heating-cooling system to an energy-efficient geothermal system. The project is largest of its kind in New York City, and drilling for a series of standing column wells will begin this fall.
The launch of the Mars Phoenix Lander is a year away. The spacecraft will be aiming for the Martian north pole, and if it lands successfully, it will drill in snow and ice in one of the few places on Mars where scientists think life could be preserved. In this interview, a planetary scientist from NASA explains why future Mars missions must dig deeper to learn about the Martian potential for life.
A final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule exempts storm water discharges of sediment from construction activities at oil and gas sites from the requirement to obtain a permit.
Although geothermal energy still is in the early stages of technology adoption by mainstream users, today, in Canada, there are fire halls, sports complexes, ice arenas, swimming pools, civic centers, schools and entire residential communities heated and cooled by geothermal energy.
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