Current Events

  • Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather
    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong corr...Read more

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    Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather

    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period. Data analyzed in this study cover the period from 431 to 1649, during which time up to 48 volcanic eruptions are identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. You can find the study (open access), published on 6 June 2013 in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, at http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article. Find out more about how volcanoes can influence climate.
  • EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US
    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, acco...Read more

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    EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US

    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. For more information on the tornado, visit http://ow.ly/i/2hfDG.
  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.

Craters on Earth


(308K GIF)
This is the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. The diameter is 1.2 kilometers, and it is 49,000 years old. (Courtesy of D. Roddy and LPI)

(199K GIF)
This is Wolfe Creek Crater in Australia. It is partly buried under wind blown sand. Its crater rim rises 25 meters (82 feet) above the land and the crater floor is 50 meters (164 feet) below the rim. (Courtesy of V. L. Sharpton, LPI)

(316K GIF)
These twin impact craters are Clearwater East and West craters located in Quebec, Canada. They were formed at the same time by two separate but probably related meteorite impacts. This rarely occurs on Earth. The larger Clearwater Lake West (left) shows a ring of islands that has a diameter of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). They constitute a raised area and are covered with impact melts. The central peak of the smaller Clearwater Lake East (right) is submerged. (Courtesy NASA/LPI)

(439K GIF)
This is Roter Kamm Crater located in South West Africa in the Namibia Desert. Scientists believe that a meteorite hit this area about 5 million years ago. The crater floor is covered by sand dunes. (Courtesy of W. U. Reimold and LPI)

(218K GIF)
This is a space radar image of the Roter Kamm Crater. The data were acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) instrument onboard space shuttle Endeavour on April 14, 1994. The area shown is approximately 25.5 kilometers (15.8 miles) by 36.4 kilometers (22.5 miles.) (Courtesy NASA/JPL)


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