Volcanic hazards could become fiercer and more frequent - physic The erupting Icelandic volcano that wrought havoc on European air traffic may have calmed for now, but geologists are warning that volcanic hazards such as this could become more commonplace due to climate change. They believe there is evidence that melting ice is placing an increasing strain on volcanic regions across the globe, which could trigger a range of different geological hazards. These findings appear in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. Perhaps the most topical paper is research led by Freysteinn Sigmundsson at the University of Iceland, which looks specifically at volcanic activity in Iceland. A fiery land Sigmundsson's team has developed a model of how Icelandic volcanism might respond to the removal of ice mass. Sigmundsson and his team suspect that a sudden removal of pressure, due to melting glaciers, could lead to additional upwelling in the Earth's mantle. The plume may reappear Unprepared for the hazard
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Judge Who Vacationed With Massey CEO Now Running For Congress | By GottaLaff See that photo? That's Massey Energy's Don Blankenship living it up on the French Riviera with his buddy, his pal, his good ol' boy "Spike". And who is this Spike we speak of? Why, he's none other than former State Supreme Court judge Elliot "Spike" Maynard who is all about pallin' around with the coal industry. And now he's running for a seat in Congress against a Democrat. Don'tcha just love when friends help friends? These aren't the best of days for Don Blankenship, whose systematic downplaying of safety concerns as the CEO of Massey Energy helped lead to last week's deadly mining disaster, and got him named the "seventh scariest person in America." Spike the Friend will be facing off against Rep. And just for good measure, Spike the Friend has accused Washington Democrats of "declaring war on the coal industry." You can read the rest here. Categories : Uncategorized
West Virginia Mine Disaster: Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship S Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, has long had a lot of influence in West Virginia. The top executive of the company that owns the mine where 25 miners died this week looms large in state affairs both because of Massey 's economic importance and because of his own penchant for political bluster. But in 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Blankenship might be wielding too much influence, after he spent $3 million of his own money to get a judge elected to a West Virginia court that was ruling on a Massey-related case. As detailed in an ABC News investigation, Blankenship vacationed on the Riviera with one West Virginia Supreme Court Justice and underwrote an ad campaign supporting the election of another while a $50 million judgment against Massey Energy was before the court. "Don Blankenship prides himself on being tough and talking tough," said David Fawcett, a Pittsburgh attorney who has tangled with Blankenship more than once.
Massey Energy CEO is a really bad dude The venerable print magazine Old Trout was recently relaunched with a splashy issue on “The Thirteen Scariest Americans.” I was asked to write up the scariest American from an environmental point of view. The choice was not difficult. The scariest polluter in the U.S. is Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy. The issue is out now. In the meantime, check out three things. First, there’s this longish New York Times piece on Blankenship from Sunday. Second, watch this short clip from Bill Moyers‘ PBS special Is God Green? And finally, please visit I Love Mountains and do whatever you can — even if it’s only sending a letter to the editor or signing an online petition — to end the horrifically destructive practice of mountaintop-removal mining. "Gasland" . NOW on PBS Week of 3.26.10 Will the boom in natural gas drilling contaminate America's water supply? In the debate over energy resources, natural gas is often considered a "lesser-of-evils". While it does release some greenhouse gases, natural gas burns cleaner than coal and oil, and is in plentiful supply—parts of the U.S. sit above some of the largest natural gas reserves on Earth. But a new boom in natural gas drilling, a process called "fracking", raises concerns about health and environmental risks. This week, NOW talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about "Gasland", his Sundance award-winning documentary on the surprising consequences of natural gas drilling. Related Link Gasland Film Website: Watch the Trailer Everyone needs water to survive. This is highly important for everyone. Arkansas' Public Television station, AETN, did an excellent documentary of the health of the water in the state and it is a must see. They're out to make money...and we like gas...so whatever. 1. 2. 3. 4. Then, SURPRISE! Ron
Gulf oil leak causing upheaval in marine ecology - environment - By Phil Mckenna As oil continues to leak out of the collapsed Deepwater Horizon well head, researchers are beginning to collect data on how it is changing life in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier today, Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia in Athens spoke of what they are finding. Joye was one of the first scientists to discover deep-water plumes emanating from the ongoing spill and recently returned from a two-week research expedition on board the research vessel F. The plume is more than 24 kilometres long, 8 kilometres wide and 90 metres thick, and stretches from 700 to 1300 metres below the surface south-south-west of the collapsed Deepwater Horizon well head. Busy bacteria Joye’s team measured oxygen levels throughout the water column near the plume and found them to be lower than normal, all the way from the sea floor to the surface. “The system as a whole has been substantially perturbed by this event,” says Joye. No end in sight More on these topics:
PJZen's The Big Picture Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico July 27, 2010 § Just because BP has capped the well does NOT mean the crisis is over. It is just beginning. This is about all of us, not just the people living the gulf. MERI Director Investigates Impacts of BP Disaster on Gulf Sea Life MERI Director and marine toxicologist Dr. via Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Like this: Like Loading... Tagged: BP, Obama, Physics, Skeptics, TED Can you help save the world sitting on you ass July 17, 2010 § Ways YOU can help save the world from home without getting off your ass. You may say “People should get off their ass to help!” Join Zooniverse : Explore the Moon in unprecedented detail using images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.Help astronomers figure out how galaxies form and evolve by classifying their shape. All of these things are free easy and fun. Like this: Like Loading... Tagged: Cool, Environment, LHC, NASA, Science, Skeptics, Space
Is it time for scientists to come out of the closet June 20, 2010 § Increasingly over the last few months I have become less tolerant (on twitter) of scientists, astronomers, astronauts, politicians and other “educated” people who still pretend to believe in god just pander to the masses. I say it is time to come out of the proverbial closest. <a href=" Our Poll</a> <a href=" Our Poll</a> Like this: Like Loading... Tagged: Agnostic, Atheism, Atheist, Physics, Science Native Lands In 1979 the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana became the first in the nation to set aside tribal land—92,000 acres of the Flathead Reservation's mountains and meadows—as wilderness. Since then, the Nez Perce have acquired 16,286 acres of ancestral lands in northeast Oregon that they will manage solely to benefit fish and wildlife. The Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in northeastern Montana are working to bring back bison on the Fort Peck Reservation. In Minnesota the Chippewa, or Ojibwa, have restored a ravaged walleye population at Red Lake. Santa Clara Pueblo's conservation program had an unlikely beginning. Today the scent of pine and juniper floats in the morning air under a blue sky. The pueblo's recreation director, Stanley Tafoya, says simply, "What we are trying to do is restore our resources. That said, there is no Eden to restore. In modern times, some tribal lands became littered with junk, and a few tribes opened solid-waste dumps to bolster their income.