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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 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.

    Image Courtesy of Tim Killeen

From: Tim Killeen
Hydrate Ridge, Pacific Ocean, September 8, 2009

Searching for Microbial Mats

Once on the sea floor, Bruce started moving around to search for the microbial mats. Alvin moves a little like a blimp - you give it some momentum in a particular direction and it will keep going. It turns very gracefully. Bruce very expertly found a region of microbial mats and proceeded to use the Alvin arm to insert a set of core sampling cylinders into the soft sediments adjacent to the ghostly white microbial mats. In 10 minutes he had them all in, and in another 10 minutes recovered 8 samples out of the 10 placed. He handled the arm very adroitly and was able to pick up small snails without breaking their shells - placing them in a small white box for recovery. Very impressive piloting!

We went for a little tour of the sea floor and saw crabs, red fish with huge eyes, many clams, eels and other creatures. It is full of life down there! At one moment a small shark swam by - we were below the depth where submarines would be crushed and these fish are just as happy as Larry.

Tim

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