June 20, 2018
Energy Notes: September 2009-2010
U.S. Oil & Petroleum Imports (millions of barrels per day) Oil and petroleum imports data are preliminary numbers taken from the American …
The EARTH archive
January 2011
Explore the archive by subject.
18 articles · Page 1 of 1
June 14, 2018
Mineral Resource of the Month: Molybdenum
Désirée E. Polyak, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on molybdenum, an extremely …
June 6, 2018
Travels in Geology: Mallorca set in stone
A spring walk along Mallorca’s northern coast yields views of sawgrass, peppered with tiny flowers just beginning to bloom in mauve and white. …
June 6, 2018
Getting There and Getting Around Mallorca
To get to Mallorca, you can fly from many major airports in Europe on a one- to two-hour flight. If you have the time (and perhaps already plan …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Hope Jahren
Hope Jahren is often described as a biogeologist, but that seems too narrow a description. Currently a professor at the University of Hawaii in …
June 21, 2016
Benchmarks: April 9, 1895: James Edward Keeler confirms Saturn's rings not solid
On April 9 and 10, 1895, astronomer James Edward Keeler snapped the most important photographs of his life. With a 13-inch (33-centimeter) …
June 20, 2016
Benchmarks: January 23, 1960: Humans reach the deepest point on Earth
More than 9,000 meters underwater, a window buckles, sending a spider web of cracks across the glass. The entire submersible shakes, but no water …
January 20, 2012
Voices: Log off and get outside again
I began this column while meandering across the West just after Labor Day last year. We drove from Telluride, Colo., to Zion National Park in …
January 20, 2012
Voices: Humans at high temperatures
Reconsidering the economic implications of climate change How much will it cost to implement plans to mitigate climate change? And if we don’t …
January 20, 2012
Voices: Does all scientific work deserve public attention?
Last September, I read a thoughtful post about science blogging and communication on The Guardian’s science blog by David Dobbs. Many scientists …
January 20, 2012
A Dirty Secret - China's greatest import: Carbon emissions
The U.S. and much of the Western world have a dirty secret. While we claim to be working diligently to decrease our emissions and switch to …
January 5, 2012
Triassic Park: On the origin of (dinosaur) species
Ask a third grader what happened to the dinosaurs and she will tell you that an asteroid killed them all. Many adults even know what caused the …
January 5, 2012
The Changing Face of Sudan
To say that things are changing in Sudan would be an understatement. With a referendum on secession set for Jan. 9, and expected to pass, and …
January 5, 2012
Paleo Patrol: Out of Africa and into Arabia?
How and when did modern humans leave Africa and colonize the rest of the world? Many archaeologists would probably tell you that about 60,000 …
January 5, 2012
OPEC and Oil: The next 50 years
Last September, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) celebrated its 50th anniversary. Over the past five decades, OPEC …
January 5, 2012
Museums: Cleopatra: The search for the last queen of Egypt
Cleopatra VII was the queen of Egypt. Even 2,000 years after her death, the last ruler of the great empire is still a focal point of worldwide …
January 5, 2012
Hazardous Living: Preparing for the storm of the century
They’re calling it “California’s Other Big One” — the giant storm that could drop more than two meters of rain on California and cause massive …
January 5, 2012
Blogging on EARTH: South Sudan secedes - what does that mean for its oil?
Today, South Sudan is voting on whether to secede from North Sudan. Although all votes have not been counted, signs point to the South becoming …