western united states – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

A Few Winners, But Many More Losers

By Guest PostApril 9, 2014Environment, Naturebe good scientists, biomedicine, clayton morrison, climate change, david danielson, desert tortoise, habitat loss, ilan gur, innovation gap, mihai surdeanu, new mexico, northern arizona university, pascale ehrenfreund, raising computers, reach project, sebastien lounis, shift, steven kaye, tele handshake, U.S. Geological Survey, university, western united states

Southwestern Bird and Reptile Distributions to Shift as Climate Changes

Dramatic distribution losses and a few major distribution gains are forecasted for southwestern bird and reptile species as the climate changes, according to just-published research by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of New Mexico, and Northern Arizona University.

Overall, the study forecasted species distribution losses – that is, where species are able to live – of nearly half for all but one of the 5 reptile species they examined, including for the iconic chuckwalla. The threatened Sonoran (Morafka’s) desert tortoise, however, is projected to experience little to no habitat losses from climate change. (more…)

NASA Tests GPS Monitoring System for Big U.S. Quakes

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Environment2004 sumatra quake, california, craig dobson, earthquake, frank webb, geoffrey blewitt, gps, gps data, hazard monitoring, la jolla, location, magnitude, NASA, natural hazard, oregon, pacific, readi, reno, ring of fire, seismological instrument, space based technology, timothy melbourne, tsunami warning, university of nevada, usgs, Washington, western united states, yehuda bock

PASADENA, Calif. – The space-based technology that lets GPS-equipped motorists constantly update their precise location will undergo a major test of its ability to rapidly pinpoint the location and magnitude of strong earthquakes across the western United States. Results from the new Real-time Earthquake Analysis for Disaster (READI) Mitigation Network soon could be used to assist prompt disaster response and more accurate tsunami warnings.

The new research network builds on decades of technology development supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The network uses real-time GPS measurements from nearly 500 stations throughout California, Oregon and Washington. When a large earthquake is detected, GPS data are used to automatically calculate its vital characteristics, including location, magnitude and details about the fault rupture. (more…)

Scorched Earth: The Past, Present and Future of Human Influences on Wildfires

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Environmentearth, fires, human ignition, jennifer balch, pre human fire history, relative influences of climate, role of fire in natural ecosystems, sustainable fire management practices, university of california at santa barbara, western united states, wildfires

*A new framework for evaluating human influences on wildfires is developed*

Fires have continuously occurred on Earth for at least the last 400 million years. But since the 1970s, the frequency of wildfires has increased at least four-fold, and the total size of burn areas has increased at least six-fold in the western United States alone. Steadily rising, the U.S.’s bill for fighting wildfires now totals $1.5 billion per year.

How much of the increases in the frequency and size of fires are due to human activities? No one knows for sure. But a paper in this week’s issue of the Journal of Biogeography puts the role of fire in natural ecosystems into context and provides support for efforts to plan for future risks from wildfires. (more…)

Sandstorms and desertification

By ShamsMarch 22, 2010Environmentasthma, Beijing, deforestation, desertification, deserts, deserts are expanding, eastern china, hazards, northern china, particulate, sandstorm, suspended particles, taiwan, urban, western united states

Saturday, and again on Monday (22^nd March) Beijing and part of eastern China was hit by two successive severe sandstorms originating in northern China. And the fine dust travelled not only to Taiwan, but as far as to the western United States.

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Tag Archives: western united states

A Few Winners, But Many More Losers

NASA Tests GPS Monitoring System for Big U.S. Quakes

Scorched Earth: The Past, Present and Future of Human Influences on Wildfires

Sandstorms and desertification