Topic: Earth Science

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Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary: Take a knowledge challenge

The bridge that some experts once thought could never be built – San Francisco’s Golden Gate – on Sunday officially celebrates 75 years since its opening. How much do you know of the bridge’s story?
Where gas prices are highest

Gasoline is a very visible price, and closely watched by many drivers. Petroleum prices impact many products, from food to industrial production. While the cost of crude is the major factor in gasoline price volatility, some countries levy taxes on fossil fuels. Here are ten countries where high gas prices are the norm, according to British insurance firm Staveley Head.
Top 5 ways to save on your summer vacation

If you're pining for a summer vacation but worried about costs, consider how Wayne and Pat Dunlap of Del Mar, Calif., managed to tour 51 countries over two years, marvel at the Egyptian pyramids, scale a New Zealand glacier, and visit Laotian Buddhist monks all for less than $100 a day. "We often stayed at guesthouses and hostels, ate at local family restaurants, took public transportation, and in some cases, traveled on cruise ships offering reduced rates," says Mr. Dunlap, author of the travel book "Plan Your Escape." This year amid price worries and higher summer airfares, especially to Europe such ingenuity could prove essential. Here are five cost-cutting strategies that can help:
Sixth Summit of the Americas: 8 things to watch

Yes, the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena will debate drug policy and Cuba. Here are eight other topics to be discussed at the Summit.
Top 5 nations that use renewable energy

Here are the top users of renewables, not counting biofuels or hydroelectricity. Numbers indicate country percentage of total global renewable usage.

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Is West Coast ready for a tsunami? Oregon towns hold tsunami drill

Three towns in Oregon are holding a tsunami drill Thursday. The 2011 tsunami in Japan prompted preparation efforts in Oregon.
Climate change: Arctic passes 400 parts per million milestone

Arctic monitoring stations show carbon dioxide levels are now above 400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide is the chief climate-change gas and stays in the atmosphere for 100 years. Before the Industrial Age, carbon dioxide levels were 275 ppm.
Consumer Energy Report
Oil subsidies: Surprise! Liberals are fans, too.

When asked if the federal government should eliminate subsidies for oil companies, most would respond with a resounding 'yes.' But such a policy would have unwelcome unintended consequences, and not just for billionaire oil tycoons.
Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary: Take a knowledge challenge

The bridge that some experts once thought could never be built – San Francisco’s Golden Gate – on Sunday officially celebrates 75 years since its opening. How much do you know of the bridge’s story?
Crystals found in magma chambers may help scientists predict volcanic eruptions

To learn more about volcanic activity in an effort to help predict it, researchers investigated the magma from within volcanoes. Crystals often grow within magma chambers, large crevices of searing hot fluid rock beneath volcanoes.
Modern Parenthood
US Navy uses new online game to gather energy security solutions

A new online game developed by the US Navy creates a platform for older kids to contribute ideas on how the military can lessen its dependence on oil, supplementing its current research on energy security.
Rich-poor divide bogs down UN climate talks

Developing nations say the industrialized world - responsible for most of the emissions historically - should bear the brunt of the emissions cuts while developed nations want to make sure that fast-growing economies like China and India don't get off too easy.
Four to eight hurricanes in 2012 NOAA forecast

The US will see nine to 15 tropical storms and four to eight of those will become hurricanes, says NOAA in its 2012 Atlantic hurricane forecast. It's a 'near normal' year. Only one to three will likely become major, Category 3, hurricanes.
Where gas prices are highest

Gasoline is a very visible price, and closely watched by many drivers. Petroleum prices impact many products, from food to industrial production. While the cost of crude is the major factor in gasoline price volatility, some countries levy taxes on fossil fuels. Here are ten countries where high gas prices are the norm, according to British insurance firm Staveley Head.
Change Agent
Community radio cuts disaster risk in flood-prone Bangladesh

Radio stations that broadcast in local dialects along Bangladesh’s coast warn residents about storms and help farmers cope with erratic weather.
Twice as many mega rainstorms in Midwest in past 50 years

Wisconsin saw the biggest rise (203 percent) in extreme rainstorms – 3 inches of rain or more in a day, new study says. Climate change is behind more Midwest flooding, say scientists.
Change Agent
Mangroves reduce disaster risk, boost incomes in Vietnam

Planting mangrove forests on Vietnam's coasts creates living storm barriers as well as rich new fishing grounds.
Cover Story
CSI Tornado: Decoding – and chasing – supercells with the experts

CSI Tornado: Chasing supercells, interviewing a homeowner sucked off his front porch in an Oklahoma tornado outbreak, and examining the path of a destructive funnel, an expert expedition shows how science is close to decoding the way a tornado works.
I Wish: movie review

Director Hirokazu Koreeda shows a strong affinity for the humors and longings of childhood in 'I Wish.'
Change Agent
Solar-powered phones recharge Kenya's conversations

An inexpensive solar cell phone made of recycled materials opens new opportunities for people in rural Kenya.
Antarctic ice sheet at risk, say scientists

A new study points out an unexpected weakness in the Antarctic ice sheet, which could melt rapidly within the next century, say scientists.
Mexico volcano ash forces shutdown of airport (+video)

A volcano in Mexico, El Popocatepetl, erupted spewing enough ash Thursday to close the Puebla airport.
Warm water threatens vast Anatarctic ice shelf (+video)

A new study indicates that a large ice sheet is at risk. Warm water from below is causing it to melt.
How a solar flare could send us back to the Stone Age

A powerful enough solar flare could knock out our power grids, disrupt our GPS satellites, and bring the global economy to a halt, warns a British scientists.
Did gassy dinosaurs cause global warming?

A new study found that giant plant-eating dinosaurs could have produced giant quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Top 5 ways to save on your summer vacation

If you're pining for a summer vacation but worried about costs, consider how Wayne and Pat Dunlap of Del Mar, Calif., managed to tour 51 countries over two years, marvel at the Egyptian pyramids, scale a New Zealand glacier, and visit Laotian Buddhist monks all for less than $100 a day. "We often stayed at guesthouses and hostels, ate at local family restaurants, took public transportation, and in some cases, traveled on cruise ships offering reduced rates," says Mr. Dunlap, author of the travel book "Plan Your Escape." This year amid price worries and higher summer airfares, especially to Europe such ingenuity could prove essential. Here are five cost-cutting strategies that can help:
Scientists: Dinosaur flatulence may have warmed Earth (+video)

Like gigantic, long-necked, prehistoric cows, sauropod dinosaurs roamed widely around the Earth 150 million years ago, scientists reported in the journal Current Biology on Monday.
Heartland Institute's digital billboards make bombastic comparisons (+video)

New billboards designed by the Heartland Institute compare climate scientists to the Unabomber, and other mass murderers. Climate scientists and other writers respond.
Japan shuts down last nuclear reactor for tests. End of nuclear power?

If Japan survives the summer without power blackouts, citizens may pressure the government to make the temporary nuclear shutdown permanent.
Will Saturday's 'supermoon' destroy the Earth?

No, it won't. You people really need to learn to calm down.