Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt plus 2 more
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- Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt
- Northeast Climate Science Center Director Announced
- Northern Plains Data Improved
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Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt Posted: 16 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt's Nile Delta document the region's ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time. "Humans have a long history of having to deal with climate change," said Christopher Bernhardt, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey. "Along with other research, this study geologically reveals that the evolution of societies is sometimes tied to climate variability at all scales – whether decadal or millennial." Bernhardt conducted this research as part of his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, along with Benjamin Horton, an associate professor in Penn's Department of Earth and Environmental Science. Jean-Daniel Stanley at the Smithsonian Institution also participated in the study, published in July's edition of Geology. "Even the mighty builders of the ancient pyramids more than 4,000 years ago fell victim when they were unable to respond to a changing climate," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This study illustrates that water availability was the climate-change Achilles Heel then for Egypt, as it may well be now, for a planet topping seven billion thirsty people." The researchers used pollen and charcoal preserved in a Nile Delta sediment core dating from 7,000 years ago to the present to help resolve the physical mechanisms underlying critical events in ancient Egyptian history. They wanted to see if changes in pollen assemblages would reflect ancient Egyptian and Middle East droughts recorded in archaeological and historical records. The researchers also examined the presence and amount of charcoal because fire frequency often increases during times of drought, and fires are recorded as charcoal in the geological record. The scientists suspected that the proportion of wetland pollen would decline during times of drought and the amount of charcoal would increase. And their suspicions were right. Large decreases in the proportion of wetland pollen and increases in microscopic charcoal occurred in the core during four different times between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago. One of those events was the abrupt and global mega-drought of around 4,200 years ago, a drought that had serious societal repercussions, including famines, and which probably played a role in the end of Egypt’s Old Kingdom and affected other Mediterranean cultures as well. "Our pollen record appears very sensitive to the decrease in precipitation that occurred in the mega-drought of 4,200 years ago,” Bernhardt said. “The vegetation response lasted much longer compared with other geologic proxy records of this drought, possibly indicating a sustained effect on delta and Nile basin vegetation." Similarly, pollen and charcoal evidence recorded two other large droughts: one that occurred some 5,000 to 5,500 years ago and another that occurred around 3,000 years ago. These events are also recorded in human history – the first one started some 5,000 years ago when the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt occurred and the Uruk Kingdom in modern Iraq collapsed. The second event, some 3,000 years ago, took place in the eastern Mediterranean and is associated with the fall of the Ugarit Kingdom and famines in the Babylonian and Syrian Kingdoms. "The study geologically demonstrates that when deciphering past climates, pollen and other micro-organisms, such as charcoal, can augment or verify written or archaeological records – or they can serve as the record itself if other information doesn’t exist or is not continuous," said Horton. This study, Nile delta response to Holocene climate variability, was published in the July edition of Geology, and was authored by Christopher Bernhardt, USGS; Benjamin Horton, Penn; and Jean-Daniel Stanley, Smithsonian Institution. Support for the work came from the University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Smithsonian Institution.
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Northeast Climate Science Center Director Announced Posted: 16 Aug 2012 06:00 AM PDT Northeast Climate Science Center Director Announced AMHERST, Mass. -- Mary Ratnaswamy has been selected as the director of the Department of the Interior's Northeast Climate Science Center, headquartered at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ratnaswamy will be the first permanent director of the center, which is one of eight regional Climate Science Centers recently established and managed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The national network of regional Climate Science Centers will provide land managers in federal, state and local agencies access to the best science available regarding climate change and other landscape-scale stressors impacting the nation’s natural and cultural resources. "Our natural environment is responding to changing climate in a myriad of ways as reflected in water availability, fire frequency, rising seas, altered plant and animal communities, and storm intensity," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "Under the leadership of Mary Ratnaswamy, the USGS has every expectation that the Northeast Climate Science Center will achieve its goal of providing science information and tools to allow resource managers and citizens alike to anticipate, measure, and appropriately adapt to these changing conditions on the local and regional scale, where decisions matter most to communities at risk." In addition to the University of Massachusetts, other partner institutions in the Northeast Climate Science Center include the College of Menominee Nation in Kashena, Wis.; Columbia University; the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass; the University of Minnesota; the University of Missouri at Columbia; and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "The consortium is extremely lucky to have the leadership of Mary Ratnaswamy as our first permanent director of the Northeast Climate Science Center," said Richard Palmer, the principal investigator for the center and head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at UMass Amherst. "Mary brings an uncommon combination of research skills, management experience and personal grace to this position. We feel confident that Mary will be an exceptional director." Since 2008, Ratnaswamy has been a research manager at the USGS' largest biological science center, the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md. There she directs the Migratory Birds, Coastal and Wetlands, and Ecosystems programs, and supervises 15 research scientists as well as other staff. As one of three senior research directors, she works closely with the center director and other managers to build and direct the science mission and operations of the center. Prior to joining USGS, she supervised the Endangered Species Program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office for eight years, with special emphasis on recovery of the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel. Her early research career focused on coastal and marine ecosystems, beginning with undergraduate research on coastal mangroves in Costa Rica while completing her Bachelor’s of Science degree at Carleton College in Minnesota. She earned a Master’s of Science degree in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, where her research explored population dynamics of fin whales along the Atlantic coast. After obtaining her Master's degree, she returned to Costa Rica to work at the Green Turtle Research Station in Tortuguero. Ratnaswamy subsequently worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for five years, where her work included conducting fisheries and bathymetric surveys in Alaska, Hawaii and California, and oceanographic current research in the Caribbean. Her doctorate in Forest Resources at the University of Georgia was based on research to understand raccoon predation of sea turtle nests. After receiving her doctorate, she took a position as Assistant Professor at University of Missouri-Columbia, where she taught at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Rastnaswamy will assume her new duties in September 2012. Rachel Muir, science advisor for the USGS Northeast Area, has served as the center’s interim director since March 2012, when the center was first funded, and will remain with the center in a support role until 2013. The Climate Science Centers are managed by the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center located at the USGS headquarters in Reston, Va. Staff from the center can be reached at (703) 648-6016 or by emailing dbeard@xxxxxxxx. Visit the National Climate Change and Wildlife Center or the Climate Science Centers website for more information. |
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Posted: 16 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT The ongoing US Topo map project, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey national map series, recently released new maps for Wyoming and South Dakota. The more than 3,230 revised digital quadrangles increase the collection in the lower 48 states to nearly 53,000 US Topo maps. The maps are available for free download from The National Map and the USGS Map Store website. Wyoming is the first state to have Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data added to US Topo maps. The PLSS is a way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys, which is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior. South Dakota and other selected states will begin getting PLSS map data during the next respective revision cycle. "The addition of the new digital data is just one example of how the USGS is constantly improving the usefulness and functionality of its map series as it systematically updates the basic underlying topographic information," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "We hope that these new maps for South Dakota and Wyoming will be freely and often downloaded by everyone from county planners to outdoor enthusiasts to natural resource managers." Other new feature additions and improvements on the updated US Topo maps include:
US Topos are derived from key layers of geographic data found in The National Map which delivers visible content such as high resolution aerial photography, which was not available on older paper-based topographic maps. The new US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support wider and faster public distribution and on-screen geographic analysis tools for users. Future enhancements to the US Topo are scheduled to include additional tools and map content such as a shaded relief layer, updated structures, enhanced transportation, additional federal boundaries, and Forest Service trails. The USGS expects to produce more than 18,500 revised quadrangles annually. US Topo maps are updated every three years.
The new digital electronic topographic maps for these new states– along with 44 other completed states - are delivered in GeoPDF image software format and may be viewed using Adobe Reader, also available as a no cost download. For more information, visit the The National Map, A New Generation of Maps website. |
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