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    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.
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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
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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 7, 2009

Planning for the Dive

After leaving Astoria we steamed to the "Hydrate Ridge" - an area at a latitude of 44N and longitude of 125W, about 45 miles off the coast of Oregon, where the sea floor is at a depth of 780 meters. The area was chosen because previous exploration had shown the presence of microbial "mats" making a living off methane gas released from the seismically active region. The purpose of the dive was to bring back samples of the microbial mats - hopefully the more rare "orange" version, together with samples of snails and mud cores of clam beds that also live in this area. We will dive near the summit of an underwater mountain range. It was a very nice evening and the dive is planned for 7:00 a.m on September 8th. Three of us will go down in Alvin: myself, Dr. Susan Avery, the director of the Woods Hole Oceanography Institution, and our expedition leader and Alvin pilot, Bruce Strickrott.

Tim

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Postcards from the Field: Postcards from Alvin

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