USGS Office of Communications
Science Picks — Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds
February 2007 Edition
For Release: UPON RECEIPT
For the fiscal year of 2008, the President has proposed a budget of
$974.9 million for the USGS, allowing the USGS to continue providing
science to support healthy lands, coastal conservation and safer
communities. The February edition of Science Picks provides a
compilation of the programs and projects supported by this budget.
Photos and Web links are available to enhance your story. If you would
like to receive Science Picks via e-mail, would like to change the
recipient or no longer want to receive it, please e-mail dmakle@xxxxxxxx
.
February Highlights
· Getting to the Heat of the Matter — Do We Have the Resources to Meet
our Energy Demands?
· Teamwork — How a Fungus, a Virus and a Plant are Surviving Climate
Change
· Are You Ready for the Next Big One, Southern California?
· USGS Scientists Play Cupid to Whooping Cranes
· Watching the World Go By
· Streamgaging on the Up-Side of Budget
· Earthquake Advisor — Measuring and Balancing Seismic Risk in Memphis
· USGS Announces Spanish and Asian-Language Versions
of San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Preparedness Handbook
· Changing Ice Conditions Threaten Polar Bear and Walrus Populations
LEADS (top news, updates and happenings in natural science)
Getting to the Heat of the Matter — Do We Have the Resources to Meet our
Energy Demands? Snowstorms and cold spells across the nation have had
people cranking up the heat and their consumption of energy this month.
Of course, our demands for energy are nothing new. In 2004, the United
States consumed more than 7.4 billion barrels of oil, 21.9 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas, and 1.1 billion short tons of coal. And
forecasts indicate that the nation’s need for energy resources will
continue to grow, raising several questions:
· How much coal and petroleum resources are available to meet the
growing energy demands of the nation and world?
· What other geologic energy resources can be added to the U.S.
energy mix?
· How do the occurrence and use of energy resources affect
environmental quality and human health?
USGS scientists are addressing these issues by conducting research on
geologically based energy resources (including oil, natural gas, coal,
coalbed methane (CBM), gas hydrates, geothermal resources, uranium, oil
shale, and bitumen and heavy oil). Learn more about the scope of energy
resources research at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3128/FS2006-3128.pdf.
Also, visit the USGS Energy Resources Program Web site at
http://energy.usgs.gov/ or contact the USGS at gd-energyprogram@xxxxxxxx
.
Teamwork — How a Fungus, a Virus and a Plant are Surviving Climate
Change: What if plants could develop a tolerance for very high
temperatures based on the company they keep? Symbiosis (when organisms
live together) may provide a strategy to mitigate the impacts of global
warming in both land and aquatic ecosystems, says a new USGS report
recently published in Science magazine. USGS microbiologist Rusty
Rodriguez and colleagues conducted the study at Yellowstone National
Park and found that when a fungus, a virus and a plant (panic grass),
naturally form a symbiosis, the plant could survive in geothermal soils.
Without its symbiotic partners (the fungus and virus), the plant withers
and dies at the temperatures experienced in geothermal soils. According
to the research, the fungus contains the virus, and together, they
confer heat tolerance to the plants. To learn more contact Russell
Rodriguez at (206) 526-6282, ext. 335, or rustyrodriguez@xxxxxxxx, or
Stephanie Hanna at (206) 331-0335 or shanna@xxxxxxxxx
Are You Ready for the Next Big One, Southern California? Is your home
earthquake ready? Does your emergency preparedness kit contain more than
a bottle of water and a can of tuna? Ask yourself. Is your home
structurally safe? As part of its new Multi-Hazards Demonstration
Project in Southern California, the USGS is participating in the Dare to
Prepare campaign to get the region’s residents “ready” for the next big
earthquake. The campaign was launched last month on the 150th
anniversary of the Fort Tejon earthquake, the last major event on the
Southern San Andreas Fault. Dare to Prepare is organized by the
Earthquake Country Alliance (http://www.earthquakecountry.info/), a
public-private partnership of leading earthquake professionals,
emergency managers, government officials, business and community
leaders, and others in Southern California. For the campaign, the USGS
will be laying out a scenario of the potential impacts of a major
earthquake in Southern California, now home to more than 20 million
people. The scenario, which includes not only shaking effects from the
earthquake but also triggered landslides and wildfires, will serve as
the basis for a major public preparedness exercise that will be the
culmination of the Dare to Prepare campaign. Find out more information
by contacting Clarice Nassif Ransom at (703) 648-4299 or
cransom@xxxxxxxxx
USGS Scientists Play Cupid to Whooping Cranes: USGS scientists play
hosts of “The Dating Game” for endangered whooping cranes. At the USGS
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a nationally recognized center for
research on endangered whooping cranes and a number of other biological
issues, Scientists act as chaperones as the birds make their love
connection, helping to ensure proper and successful mating of the birds.
Whoopers, just like humans, go on several dates to find out if they like
each other before settling down. At times, a whooper-couple breaks up
and scientists may introduce a new love interest, but typically, once
whoopers find true love and rear chicks, the happy couple stays true and
grows old together. Producing young is the goal of the whooping cranes
and the scientists — as of 2006, there were 354 whoopers in the wild and
145 birds in captivity, with 57 whoopers (15 breeding pairs) at the
Center. The FY 2008 budget seeks an increase of $4.7 million to begin
critical repair and rehabilitation of facilities in Laurel, Md. For
more, see http://whoopers.usgs.gov/, or call Heather Friesen at (703)
648-4596 or hfriesen@xxxxxxxxx
FEEDS (USGS tools and resources)
Watching the World Go By: Now anyone with an Internet connection can see
what the Earth looks like from space right now with the EarthNow!
Landsat Image Viewer (http://earthnow.usgs.gov), a new online tool that
displays images received from the orbiting Landsat 5 and Landsat 7
satellites as they pass over the United States. Image data are
downlinked and displayed on the online EarthNow! viewer in near-real
time when either of the two satellites passes within range of the
Landsat Ground Station at the USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and
Science Center (USGS EROS) near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The
satellites orbit the Earth at roughly 17,000 miles per hour, and each
one passes over the United States about three times a day during
daylight hours. For more information, contact Jan Nelson at
(605)594-6173 or jsnelson@xxxxxxxxx
Streamgaging on the Up-Side of Budget: USGS continues to play a critical
role in reducing flood losses through scientific research and operation
of the national streamgaging network, which includes more than 7,400
gaging stations that provide real-time information to water resource
managers, emergency responders and flood-plain managers. The USGS FY08
budget proposes to increase funding for the USGS streamgaging program by
$5 million (compared to the FY 2006 level). Funding will also support
online tools that allow users to obtain statistical estimates of flood
risk at any point along the Nation's rivers. The resulting models will
allow users to calculate streamflow probabilities (particularly the
likelihood of flooding) for non-gaged streams and adjacent lands. Also
funded is a mobile storm-surge monitoring network that will provide
highly accurate data on storm surge as the flooding occurs, spreads, and
retreats. These data will be used to help forecasters and emergency
managers have more accurate storm surge models that they can use to
issue warnings and to conduct emergency response during a hurricane.
Check out real-time streamflow information at
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt. WaterWatch, another USGS flood tool,
can be accessed at http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch. For more
information, call Jennifer LaVista at (703) 648-4432 or
Jlavista@xxxxxxxxx
Earthquake Advisor — Measuring and Balancing Seismic Risk in Memphis:
Although earthquakes in the central United States are less common than
in California, cities such as St. Louis and Memphis are at risk and may
feel the effects more widely since seismic energy travels more
efficiently through the hard, ancient crust typical for that region of
the central U.S. Based on studies of the New Madrid seismic zone in the
central Mississippi Valley, large, magnitude-7 to -8 earthquakes occur
every 500 years, on average. In fact, there is a 25 to 40 percent
probability of a magnitude-6.0 or greater earthquake in the next 50
years. The USGS is partnering with the Mid-America Earthquake Center to
develop a Web-based tool to allow local government agencies to develop
more cost effective strategies for seismic risk mitigation in the
region, based on the USGS Land Use Portfolio Model (LUPM). The tool is a
modeling, mapping and risk-communication product, which builds upon
financial-portfolio theory, a method for evaluating alternative
investment choices based on the estimated distribution of risk and
return from different investment possibilities. It integrates
assessments of seismic risk with loss estimates and mitigation costs to
allow users to compare the effectiveness and costs of various mitigation
strategies. To find out how scientists determine the probability and
risk for the mid-continent region, contact Paul Hearn at (703) 648-6287
or phearn@xxxxxxxx or Rich Bernknopf at (650) 329-4951 or rbern@xxxxxxxx
. See http://www.usgs.gov/science_impact/risk.html#2 for more
informaton.
STORY SEEDS (points to ponder or investigate)
USGS Announces Spanish and Asian-Language Versions of San Francisco Bay
Area Earthquake Preparedness Handbook: The USGS will release two new
publications the week of February 5, 2007, titled, “Protecting Your
Family from Earthquakes — The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety.” One
handbook is written in Spanish, with an accompanying English
translation; the other is translated into Chinese, Vietnamese and
Korean, also with an accompanying English translation. The publications
are abridged versions of the popular and award-winning handbook,
“Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country — Your Handbook for the San
Francisco Bay Area, which can be found at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/.”; For more information, check out the
Earthquake Country Alliance’s Web site at
http://www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/index.php. For more information
on the USGS Earthquake Program, contact Stephanie Hanna at (206)
331-0335 or shanna@xxxxxxxxx
Changing Ice Conditions Threaten Polar Bear and Walrus Populations: The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed listing the polar bear
as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Because they
are able to catch their seal prey mainly from the surface of the sea
ice, the observed and predicted decline of arctic sea ice, due to
climate change, directly reduces carrying capacity of the Arctic for
polar bears. However, polar bears are not the only animals confronted
with changing ice conditions. Walrus also need ice as a resting platform
from which they dive to feed on ocean bottom dwelling organisims.
Changing conditions in the Arctic Ocean will also impact marine
biodiversity and the entire marine foodweb. Scientists at the USGS
Alaska Science Center have been researching these ice dependent species
for years and have many insights into their chilly lifestyles. For more
information, contact Steve Amstrup at (907) 786-3424 or
samstrup@xxxxxxxx and Chad Jay at cjay@xxxxxxxx or (907) 786-7414, or
check out http://alaska.usgs.gov.
