Hot Articles

Pacific Northwest earthquake threat heightened?

Bernard Langer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:18:25

Scientists have upgraded the potential earthquake threat to cities including Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., and Vancouver, British Columbia in the Pacific Northwest. Although it was once thought that large earthquakes in this region, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, would more likely happen offshore, they could occur much closer to the coast.

Rebuilding Afghanistan

Carolyn Gramling — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:57:55

Ravaged by war, drought and natural hazards such as earthquakes and landslides, Afghanistan’s people face many challenges. Two stories in the most recent issue of EARTH magazine highlight the daunting challenges these scientists dealt with in the past and continue to face.

Blogging on EARTH: \"Climategate\" scientist tells his side

Carolyn Gramling — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:24:52

Climatologist Michael Mann met the press today at the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting to answer questions about "Climategate" and what those hacked emails really said about climate science.

Closing Istanbul's seismic gap

Mary Caperton Morton — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:05:00

Since 1939, a progression of deadly earthquakes has been marching westward across Turkey's North Anatolian Fault. All signs point to Istanbul as the next likely target — but Turkey's largest city may be struck by a series of moderate earthquakes, rather than one big event.

Designing Snowflakes

Brian Fisher Johnson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:26:17

Is every snowflake truly unique? Physicist Kenneth Libbrecht has made a career out of photographing the variety of snowflake shapes, from familiar six-sided forms to more exotic "bullet rosettes" and "capped columns." EARTH's latest slideshow takes you on a visual tour of these delicate ice crystals.

Reclaiming Alberta's oil sands mines

Bridget Mintz Testa — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:35:46

In 1983, the erstwhile surface mine Gateway Hill, part of Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands Deposit, resembled a pockmarked, barren moonscape. Today, after years of reclamation effort, Gateway Hill is thickly forested and filled with wildlife — and as the first oil sands mine site to be certified by the government to be at pre-mine condition, it is a model for new and ongoing reclamation projects.

What makes a disaster? Does this blizzard count?

Carolyn Gramling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:36:42

We recommend: One of EARTH's regular contributors, Callan Bentley, has a thoughtful post up on his blog about what makes a natural disaster. Click through for the link.

Wal-Mart to use wind energy

Brian Fisher Johnson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:02:07

Giant retailer Wal-Mart is looking to get greener, starting with a new plan to use wind power to supply 15 percent of its energy needs.

Chile's quake larger but less destructive than Haiti's

Erin Wayman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:30:43

A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck offshore Maule, Chile, on Feb. 27, killing at least 711 people and displacing 2 million people. Why was the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in January more deadly? Geological differences as well as social factors are both part of the explanation.

Earthquake prediction: Gone and back again

Brian Fisher Johnson — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:53:54

Earthquake prediction is considered by most seismologists to be both unreliable and unscientific — historically, it has relied on oddities like animal behavior or lights in the sky. But events like the deadly 2004 Sumatra quake and Monday's quake in central Italy may draw new funding to quake prediction researchers.