Three interlocking international science years – International Polar Year, International Heliospherical Year, and the Electronic Geophysical Year – are inspiring intense global collaboration and coordinated investment. Earthzine takes a close look at one of its core programs, Heliosphere Impact on Geospace, thatÌÄå_s spinning out a blizzard of new data on Earth’s geomagnetic phenomena.
According to Wayne Esais’ honeybees, big changes are underway in Maryland forests. The most important event in the life of flowering plants and their pollinators, flowering itself, is happening much earlier in the year than it used to.
The next state of equilibrium during which humans will live in balance with the Earth’s ecosystems depends on the choices we make today. In turn, those choices are influenced by the way we view Earth. Daily, we each make decisions that impact our environment; collectively our actions affect the health and well being of Earth. Individually and collectively, we have the power to influence our environment and therein resides our hope for future generations.
Research done by University of Leicester geologists suggest that human caused alterations to the Earth has ushered in a new epoch – the Anthropocene – which seperates pre- and post-industrial time on Earth.
It has become clear in recent years that human beings need to be much more careful in how we develop the Earth’s resources if that development is to be sustainable for future generations. To support sustainable development, in turn, we need to know the present state of the Earth and the impact of our activities. Measuring that impact and sharing the results with decision makers around the world is the goal of a major international scientific effort, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
University of Arizona’s Joseph Bennet and a team of Croatian geologists have found that the number Croatia’s Dalmatian Islands may be increasing and that the Italian Peninsula and Croatia are moving closer together at the rate of 4 millimeters a year.
In a statement recently released, the American Geophysical Union – the world’s largest society of Earth and space scientists – warns that Earth’s climate is “clearly out of balance” and that recent changes in climate are “not natural.”
An expert on the behavior of the upper atmosphere, Mahlman led the development of one of the first global climate models, for which he received the American Geophysical Union’s Carl-Gustav Rossby Medal, its highest honor. Mahlman chaired the Earth System Science and Applications Advisory Committee for NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth program in the 1990s and was involved in the founding of the IPCC; He created the so-called betting odds scheme used by IPCC to evaluate uncertainty and was a reviewer of the Working Group I report for IPCC’s 2007 assessment.
A new book authored by George and Roberta Poinar presents the hypothesis that the death knell of the mighty dinosaurs was the introduction of disease-carrying insects, as opposed to the sudden impact theories so prevalent today.
Volcanoes can have extremely wide ranging effects. Even a single eruption can cause disastrous climate changes at great distance from the source. Thus, it is important to have a system to monitor even the most remote volcanoes. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra spacecraft and other satellite sensors provide imagery that is critical to the global volcano monitoring solution.
