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Volcanoes More Dangerous to Earth than Nuclear Bombs

By PravdaSeptember 2, 20101 commentEnvironmentantilles, april, atlantis, catania, crete-mycenaean, eruption, etna, Europe, eyyafyatlayokudlya, Hiroshima, Iceland, indonesian volcano, kamchatka peninsula, krakatau, martinique, mediterranean, minoan civilization, mont pele, peak sarychev, pompeii, santorini, sergei balmasov, sergei fedorov, soufriere, st vincent, tambora volcano, traffic jams, vesuvius, volcanic activity, volcanologist

Many still remember traffic jams in Europe, caused by the April eruption of Eyyafyatlayokudlya. Scientists around the world genuinely fear the catastrophic consequences of volcanic activity.

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Glaciers Retreating in Asia

By Guest PostAugust 30, 20101 commentEnvironmentglaciers in asia, glaciers in china, glaciers in himalaya, himalayan divide, retreating glaciers

Could Impact Water Supplies for Millions and Cause Flood Conditions

Many of Asia’s glaciers are retreating as a result of climate change. (more…)

Shrinking Atmospheric Layer Linked to Low Levels of Solar Radiation

By Guest PostAugust 27, 2010Environmentatmospheric layer, orbiting satellites, shrinking thermosphere, solar radiation, ultraviolet level, working satellites

WASHINGTON — Large changes in the Sun’s energy output may cause Earth’s outer atmosphere to contract, new research indicates. A study published today by the American Geophysical Union links a recent, temporary shrinking of a high atmospheric layer with a sharp drop in the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation levels. (more…)

Study Shows Deepwater Oil Plume in Gulf Degraded by Microbes

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2010Environmentberkeley lab, biodegradation, bp, carbon, deep-sea psychrophilic, deepwater horizon drilling, degradation, gamma-proteobacteria, gulf of mexico, hoi-ying Holman, hydrocarbon-degrading enzymes, microbial ecologist, oil dispersant corexit 9500, oil plume, oxygen depletion, petroleum, petroleum-degrading microbes, terry hazen

In the aftermath of the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a dispersed oil plume was formed at a depth between 3,600 and 4,000 feet and extending some 10 miles out from the wellhead. An intensive study by scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that microbial activity, spearheaded by a new and unclassified species, degrades oil much faster than anticipated. This degradation appears to take place without a significant level of oxygen depletion.

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Researchers Find Widespread Floating Plastic Debris in the Western North Atlantic Ocean

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2010Environmentatlantic accumulation zone, floating plastic, floating plastic debris, pacific garbage patch, plastic debris, plastic pollution

Despite growing awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, little solid scientific information existed to illustrate the nature and scope of the issue. (more…)

Deep Plumes of Oil Could Cause Dead Zones in the Gulf

By Guest PostAugust 21, 20101 commentEnvironmentalistair adcroft, dead zones, deepwater horizon spill, dissolved oil, gulf of mexico, hypoxic zones, methane, methane plumes, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, noaa, ocean hypoxia, oil, oxygen, pollution, princeton university, robert hallberg, simulation, toxic concentrations

WASHINGTON — A new simulation of oil and methane leaked into the Gulf of Mexico suggests that deep hypoxic zones or “dead zones” could form near the source of the pollution.

The research investigates five scenarios of oil and methane plumes at different depths and incorporates an estimated rate of flow from the Deepwater Horizon spill, which released oil and methane gas into the Gulf from April to mid July of this year.

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CU-Boulder Team to Assess Air Quality and Respiratory Health Risks Stemming From Gulf Oil Spill

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2010Environmentair quality, airborne pathogens, gulf oil spill, respiratory health risks

Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from Professor Mark Hernandez’s environmental engineering lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder will travel to the Gulf Coast this week to begin studying the effect of this summer’s oil spill on air quality along impacted shores. (more…)

WHOI Scientists Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf

By Guest PostAugust 19, 2010Environment, Scienceautonomous underwater vehicleauv, bp deepwater horizon, cameron mcIntyre, christopher reddy, conductivity, ctd, dan torres, depth, endeavor, gulf of mexico, marine geochemist, natural oil seeps, oil spill, oxygen, petroleum hydrocarbon, plume of hydrocarbons, research vessel, richard camilli, scientists, sentry, sentry auv, susan k. avery, temperature, tethered yearlong spectrometer, tethys, underwater mass spectrometer, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

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Category Archives: Environment