USGS News: November Science Picks - Thanksgiving treats and geography beats

[Jennifer LaVista <jlavista@xxxxxxxx>]

USGS Office of Communications
Science Picks – Leads,
Feeds, and Story Seeds
November 2006 Edition

For release: UPON RECEIPT

November isn’t just about giving
thanks and passing the stuffing—it’s also about becoming aware that geography
matters! Mark your calendars because Geography Awareness Week (GAW) runs
from November 12-18 and geographic information systems
(GIS) Day is November 15th.
As you may already be aware, geography is more than places on a map. It's
global connections and environmental insights. It's people and cultures,
economics and politics. And it's essential to understanding our interconnected
world.

Science Picks keep you up
to date with the latest news and information from the USGS. Science Picks
help you cover ongoing earth and natural science research, investigations
and technology. Photos and Web links are also provided to enhance your
story. If you would like to receive Science Picks via email, would like
to change the recipient or no longer want to receive it, please e-mail
dmakle@xxxxxxxx.

November Highlights:

·        Dust
In the Wind — Is Dust from Africa Affecting Our Health and the Environment?
·        Global
Goods are Being Gobbled Up — It’s Time to Assess
·        Lacking
Mussels in the United States?
·        Ducks
without Borders
·        Now
You See It, Now You Don't ... or Do You?
·        Gorge
On Turkey Gossip!
·        Let’s
Talk Turkey
·        Get
your Head in the Clouds! — See Earth from Space
·        A
Program to be Thankful for — Famine Early Warning System Network in Africa
·        GIS
Day — Discovering the World

LEADS:

Dust In the Wind — Is African
Dust Affecting Our Health and the Environment? During Geography Awareness
Week, don’t forget our earth is indeed a “small world after all.” Each
land has the ability to affect another — for better or for worse. For
example, in Africa, hundreds of millions of tons aerosolized desert soils
(referred to as 'dust') are transported each year to the Caribbean and
the United States. This dust is thought to be responsible for an increased
occurrence of asthma in humans, the decline of coral reefs and other environmental
hazards. The dust comes from the expanding Sahara/Sahel desert region and
carries a wide variety of bacteria and fungi. For more information, see
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/, or contact Christina A.
Kellogg at  727-803-8747 or ckellogg@xxxxxxxx.

Global Goods are Being Gobbled
Up — It’s Time to Assess: To see the full effect of the growing global
population, you have to do more than scratch the surface — you’ve got
to dig! Rising populations and efforts to improve living standards have
led to an increase in the mineral resources being consumed. In response
to this growing need, the USGS is participating in a cooperative international
project called the Global Mineral Resource Assessment Project (GMRAP).
The project’s goals are to assess and identify land areas that have the
potential to contain undiscovered nonfuel mineral resources and to estimate
the amount of those mineral resources up to 1 kilometer below the Earth’s
surface. For more information, visit http://minerals.usgs.gov/east/global/,
or contact Klaus Schulz at 703-648-6320 or kschulz@xxxxxxxx.

Lacking Mussels in the United
States? You won’t find these mussels in the gym after the holidays,
and according to a new USGS report (http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/pubs/pubs.htm#mussels),
you’re also less likely to find them in your local streams and rivers.
Freshwater mussels are rapidly declining in the United States, and no one
is completely sure why. To find out more, the USGS and its partners are
developing the first-of-its-kind toxicity test that uses early life stages
of freshwater mussels to assess the effects of pollution on the decreasing
mussel populations. Find out why results suggest water quality criteria
for certain chemicals may not be strict enough to protect sensitive stages
of freshwater mussels’ survival. To learn more, contact Ning Wang at 573-441-2946
or nwang@xxxxxxxx.

Ducks without Borders: Ducks
don't need passports and visas when they travel, and they ignore state
and international borders. Satellite radio telemetry has provided much
information to scientists about the movements of ducks — and boy do they
travel! One breed of seaduck was tracked covering 1,000 miles and visiting
two countries in a year’s time. That’s a lot of flapping! Having breeding
and wintering areas in different countries and traveling long distances
for migration highlight the international nature of this natural resource.
For more information, visit www.pwrc.usgs.gov, or contact Matthew
C. Perry at mperry@xxxxxxxx or 301-497-5622.

FEEDS:      
 

EarthNow! Goes Live: The
EarthNow! image viewer (http://earthnow.usgs.gov) went live on Nov.
2, at the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS).
EarthNow! displays data received from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites
as they pass over the United States. When a Landsat satellite passes within
range of the ground station at the USGS EROS center, image data are downlinked
and displayed in near-real time. When Landsat 5 and 7 are not in range,
the most recent pass is displayed. EarthNow! was created as an outreach
tool by the Landsat project at the EROS center, and a version was installed
on Nov. 11, at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. For more information
contact Rachel Kurtz at rkurtz@xxxxxxxx
or 605-594-6118.

Now You See It, Now You Don't
... or Do You? A
new USGS Web site, http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/repeatphoto/, features
a collection of repeat photographs of glaciers in and around Glacier National
Park, Mont. The striking images created by pairing historical photographs
with contemporary photographs reveal significant glacial recession. USGS
scientists began documenting glacial decline through photography in 1997.
While less quantitative than other high-tech methods of recording glacial
mass, depth and rate of retreat, repeat photography provides an effective
visual tool to better understand how climate change contributes to the
dynamic landscape of Glacier National Park. For more information, contact
Marilyn Blair at 406-888-7996 or mrblair@xxxxxxxx, or Lisa McKeon
at 406-888-7924 or lisa_mckeon@xxxxxxxx.

Gorge On Turkey Gossip! Brush
up on your knowledge of your favorite Thanksgiving bird and other feathered
friends at the Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. Here you can find
photos, maps and audio recordings as well as identification tips, life
history and much more. Go to http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html,
and feed your mind! For more information, contact Jennifer LaVista at 703-648-4432
or at jlavista@xxxxxxxx. 

Let’s Talk Turkey: In Alabama,
Arkansas and Texas, are national holidays such as Thanksgiving a time or
a place? For many, the holidays represent family gatherings with delicious
edibles, but for people who live in Thanksgiving, Md., and Christmas, Miss.,
they are also a place called home. Learn about holiday place names by using
the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). It’s a fun and exciting
research tool with over two million place names in the United States. The
GNIS was developed with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to establish
uniform name usage in the federal government and provide an index of names
on federal maps. Visit http://geonames.usgs.gov to search for unique
names of streams, lakes, mountains or populated places. For more information,
contact Karen Wood at 703-648-4460 or kwood@xxxxxxxx.

        STORY
SEEDS:

Get your Head in the Clouds!
— See Earth from Space: Have you ever wondered what
your backyard looks like from space? The new Earth from Space exhibit
is kicking during Geography Awareness Week and promises to give you breathtaking
views from the “eyes” of a satellite. The exhibit explains how satellite
imagery is gathered and used to understand how the Earth changes through
time. This brilliant new perspective is on view at the Smithsonian's National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. through Jan. 7, and then will
travel to various locations around the country. To check out the exhibit’s
tour schedule, visit http://www.earthfromspace.si.edu/default.asp.
For more information, contact Jennifer LaVista at 703-648-4432 or jlavista@xxxxxxxx.

A Program to be Thankful for
— Famine Early Warning System Network in Africa: While some
enjoy the festive Thanksgiving Day meal this month, it’s important to
remember some countries are less fortunate. Learn how the USGS is working
to prevent the future occurrence of drought-induced famine that has devastated
Africa in the past. For more information on the Famine Early Warning System
Network (FEWS), a network designed to distribute information that enables
timely measures to be taken to prevent food-insecure conditions in 22 countries,
visit http://earlywarning.usgs.gov
and http://edcintl.cr.usgs.gov/fewsnet.html,
or contact James Verdin at 605-594-6018 or verdin@xxxxxxxx. 

GIS Day — Discovering the World:
On Nov. 15, geographic information system (GIS) users and vendors around
the world are asked to open their doors to schools, businesses and the
general public to showcase realworld applications of this important technology.
GIS has many applications such as locating businesses, routing school buses
and mapping a favorite campsite. To find an event near you, visit http://www.gisday.com/.