New Ocean in Africa

Earth Science is a topic that is discussed a lot in the news since it is important for us to understand what is happening on our planet. One recent finding of earth scientists relates to what we have learned in class about seafloor spreading and tectonic plates. Researchers believe that the 35 mile rift in the Ethiopian desert will likely become a new ocean. This rift, twenty feet wide in spots opened in 2005. The process that is creating this rift is the exact same process that occurs on the ocean floor. The main cause of this 35 mile rift is volcanic activity. In class we learned how volcanic activity and tectonic plates are related. In this particular case, a volcano on the northern end of the rift, Dabbahu, erupted causing magma to be pushed up through the middle of the rift area and separating the land in both directions. This development shows that highly active volcanic boundaries along the edges of tectonic ocean plates could suddenly break apart in large sections rather than small bits as previously believed. Researchers have determined that the events occurring in Ethiopia are similar to the events that occur on the bottom of the ocean floor. Since the two processes are analogous then the rift in Ethiopia could serve as an ocean rift lab. We learned about seafloor spreading or rifting in class. Sea floor spreading is a process in which new sea floor is created by magma intrusions into the sea floor. This process occurs along divergent plate boundaries. The African and Arabian plates meet in the remote Afar desert of Northern Ethiopia at a divergent plate boundary. At this boundary, the plates have been moving apart at a speed of less than one inch per year for the past 30 million years. This rifting is responsible for the formation of the Red Sea. Researchers believe that the Red Sea will eventually flow into the newly created rift in about one million years. This would create a new ocean that would connect the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This rift is something that scientists will continue to monitor and try to predict what will happen in the future.

Global Climate Change Strikes Again!!

The newest global assessment on biodiversity has ruled that an additional 11 species are fully extinct or extinct outside of captivity. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updated its Red List of Threatened Species, considered the authority on the status of the world's species, to an all-time high of 17,291 species threatened with extinction. The assessments results show that 37% of freshwater fish, 35% of invertebrates, 30% of amphibians and 28% of reptiles are threatened. This is horrible for biodiversity, because it displays the horrible effects of Global Climate Change. As climate change, invasive species, and habitat destruction place greater pressure on wildlife, more species are disappearing at rates faster than conservationists can react to ensure the species' survival. This means that countless more species will meet their demise unless we work harder to combat climate change.

Gas Company Won't Drill New York Watershed

One of the nations largest gas companies, Chesapeake Energy, has opted against drilling for natural gases in upstane New York's watershed. Chesapeake Energy is the largest leaseholder in the Matcellus shale. This is a subterranean layer of shale that runs from New York to Tennessee. It is believed there is natural gas in the shale.
The problem is getting the gas from te shale. Getting the gas out includes a method called hydraulic fracturing. This method puts chemicals in the water and then the water is blasted down thr gas well. This will make the gas flow more easily. The problem is the water would be laced with chemicals and that water is drinking water for half the states population. This includes over eight million people in New York City and another million in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess(where i live) counties. The problem with this is the water doesnt get filtered from the watershed. So nine million people would be drinking this water.
Even though this would put many people in danger, this wouldn't be illegal for Chesapeake to do. Because of the economic possibilities legislation in New York doesn't band drilling in the watershed. Enviromental groups are mostly to thank for the company not drilling. They put a lot of pressure on Chesapeake and Chesapeake didn't feel it would be worth the "headache." Enviromental groups are hoping this decision by Chesapeake will spark New York legislation to adapt stricter policies on drilling.
I think this is a great thing that Chespeake isn't drilling in the watershed. Despite owning the land and being legally able to, Chesapeake listened to the cocern of several worried groups and opted against the drilling. It shows there is still some integrity left in oil companies. Also had the company gone ahead and drilled the watershed I would have been directly affected by this. Since I'm from dutchess county, my family and I would have been drinking this water.

“Polar Bear Habitat Proposed for Alaska”

On October 22, 2009 the Interior Department proposed to give the polar bears more than 200,000 miles of ice, land and sea on the northern coast of Alaska. This is because of the shrinking population and habitat for the polar bears. This area will encompass two different species of polar bears, the Chukchi Sea and Southern Beaufort Sea. Within these two groups are only about 3,500 polar bears. Officials say that the polar bears’ shrinking habitat is due to global warming. According to the article, “In May of 2008 the Interior Department declared, under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, that the polar bear was threatened with extinction.” However, the Bush administration along with Thomas Strickland does not think that it should be classified under the Endangered Species Act since it is addressing global warming. The Obama administration thinks otherwise. I understand the thinking of the Bush administration by saying that it should not be classified under that act because it is dealing with global warming, however, the issue of the decreasing population of polar bears needs to be addressed under the Endangered Species Act. We have to protect these creatures’ habitats so that they can survive for many years to come. The proposed protected area for the polar bears is not protected from the oil companies at the moment. That same week of the proposal, Shell Oil Company was given permission to drill in the polar bears’ habitat. This activity is not only harmful to their environment but could also possible be as dangerous as climate change because they are going into their home directly and taking over and as a result this forces the polar bears to go somewhere else. Now government agencies and commercial interests are required to show that their activity, including drilling for oil, will not harm or destroy the polar bears’ habitat in any way. That is a step forward in helping the polar bears. Other things must and can be done to save the polar bears. This may mean that more “green” products will have to be created. Having electric powered cars and automobiles will reduce the pollution rate substantially which will decrease climate change. Another way to help decrease climate change is if people would recycle more and use more environmentally friend products. The bottom line is that the polar bears are decreasing in population along with their habitat and something has to be done to stop this from continuing.

LCROSS Impact to Prove Water is on the Moon

On October 9th, 2009, NASA will be hitting the Moon with a probe from its satellite called LCROSS. NASA is doing this to prove that there is water on the Moon. NASA is performing two impacts, so its data that it will be gathering should be decent and most likely correct. The site that was chosen for the impact of the probe is the crater Cabeus A. This crater is located on the Moon’s south pole. Scientists believe that there is ice located on the south pole of the Moon because the Moon is under permanent shadow in that region, which in turn acts as a refrigerator. Millions of years ago the Moon was hit will many comets and scientists believe that that is how the ice came to be on the Moon. The comet would eventually break down and deposit water. This water would settle into the crater that was left behind from the comet and freeze from the consent darkness.
The water is hard to detect on the Moon so that is why NASA is hitting the Moon with a probe. When the probe hits the Moon with its high impact, the ice will break and the water particles will then be able to be detected once they fly up into the air and past the lunar surface. The article states that it will be a spectacular view from Earth. However, it can only be seen if you have a telescope.
Hitting the Moon with a high speed probe is a good way for trying to figure out if there is water on the Moon. It is important to know if there is possible life or provisions for life on other planets and stars. However, is NASA positive that by doing this it will be able to prove that there is water on the Moon. By hitting the Moon, it may just throw off a bunch of debris that makes up the Moon and not actually the ice and water that they say is located on the Moon. NASA may be a few inches off and miss the impact of the crater Cabeus A and have to perform the impact again. To prevent this, NASA has to be extremely accurate with its measurements and calculations so that its impact is not wasted. NASA also has to gain the citizens trust in that this impact on the Moon will not do more harm than good and that it will benefit science and the people.

What we can do on campus to help with the climate change dilemma

For the past few decades our global community has seen how our climate is slowing changing. Pictures have shown the many different regions that have witnessed a decrease in the amount of snowfall over the years and the amount of glacial landscapes also has noticeably decreased. Eban Goodstein, an economics professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., is convinced that this is something that deserves our immediate attention and will eventually become an even more threatening problem then it is today. Although not an environmental professional, he still set out to help educate himself on the issue so he could be more aware and spread this knowledge to the rest of his students.

When he returned to teach at his college, he recalled back in history when the Vietnam War and the apartheid pulled college campuses together and got their communities aware of what was going on in the world around them. Using this as guidance, he set out to try and bring his college community together to put climate change front and center on American campuses. He felt that it would be the college students who in the future would have to start to prevent the various climate related concerns that we are currently faced with.

Campuses around the country have already started to come together and raise awareness about what might be coming in the future. Students and teachers from around 1,500 colleges around the country meet in New York City to discuss the current climate changes that are occurring. The result of this was very positive because when the students and teachers went back to their respective schools they spread the information on to more people and eventually greatly raised awareness.

Some may deny the theory of global warming but we all know that our world is obviously not how it was back hundreds of years ago. "Young people have the moral authority, this is not about us, my generation — this is about their future and that future is now.” There are a few things that we can do here in college to make some impact in reducing carbon emissions. Some of these areas include the electricity we use in our rooms, controlling the amount of waste we produce, and the transportation we choose to use around campus (Reducing carbon emissions).

Siena College is already realizing this problem and I have noticed some of the ways that they allow us to be more earth friendly. In our rooms Siena has provided us with recycling baskets, in Saga there is an option to use cups that were made from plants, and a lot of assignments have been given through the internet to help save paper. These small things go a long way towards helping our earth and preventing climate change.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1711450,00.html

Tsunami hits Samoa and the South Pacific Tuesday September 29

An earthquake caused a massive tsunami which included four waves 15 to 20 feet high in western Indonesia, including the island of American Somoa, Somoa and Tonga. Somoa is halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. A second and unrelated earthquake occurred Wednesday killing 75 people on Sumatra Island. The first quake measured 8.3 on the Richter scale and was the result of a shallow rapture in the earth’s crust.

The tsunami is blamed for over 100 deaths, which include tourists, and the death toll is expected to rise. Many people fled to higher ground but the short ten minute warning sent from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was not enough for many people caught in the waves. It is assumed because of the size of the tsunami that residents felt the quake for several seconds, which is a sign of an impending tsunami. The tsunami took roughly 20 minutes to reach the islands from the epicenter. The quake occurred 120 miles south of American Somoa, which has a population of 65,000. The waves flattened two Somoan villages. Among the countries sending relief supplies are the United States and New Zealand.

Tsunami waves are synonymous with death and destruction after the December 26 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries in that region. It was the second largest earthquake recorded with waves over 100 feet high and registered 9.3 on the Richter scale. A total of 230,000 people died in that tsunami from 11 countries and $7 billion was donated worldwide in relief. It is one of the deadliest natural disasters recorded in history.