Current Events

  • 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.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

Mercury Statistics

Planetary Symbol: Name in Roman/Greek Mythology: Mercury/Hermes
Diameter: 4,878 km (3,030 miles) Rotation Period about Axis: 58.65 days
Mass: 0.33x10^24 kilograms (0.06 x Earth's) Revolution Period about the Sun: 0.24 years
Density: 5,427 kg/m^3 Tilt of Axis: 0o
Minimum Distance from Sun: 46.0 million km
(28.6 million miles)		 Surface Gravity: 3.7 m/s^2 (0.38 x Earth's)
Maximum Distance from Sun: 69.8 million km
(43.4 million miles)		 Temperature Range on Mercury: -184o C to 427o C
(-300o F to 800o F)
Orbital Semimajor Axis: 0.387 AU (Earth=1 AU) Average Surface Temperature (K): 440K
Minimum Distance from Earth: 77.3 million km
(48.0 million miles)		 Satellites: 0

Mercury Image Archive

Comparative Planetary Statistics -- in table form

Comparative Orbital Statistics -- in table form

Actual Distance to Earth

Last modified March 5, 2003 by Randy Russell.

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