4 May 2012
Building resilience as weather worsens
Two adjacent, brand-new houses – one was torn from its foundation by winds, the other stood strong. A mere $3,000 in building costs made the difference, including a simple wind-resistant measure: a front door that stays shut in a storm because it’s built to open outward rather than inward.
1 May 2012
Using science to disarm disaster
When it comes to natural hazards, early warnings and preparedness are key, federal and local government officials stressed at the American Geophysical Union’s inaugural Science Policy Conference in Washington, DC, Tuesday.
Warmer polar regions lead to hardships for arctic inhabitants
A few inches of seashore loss per year is usually cause for alarm among coastal communities. This is nothing to the Alaskan inhabitants of Newtok, who have experienced as much as 100 lateral feet of shoreline loss in the same amount of time.
30 April 2012
Smoking out an air pollutant’s hot spots
A smoke-related chemical may be a significant air pollutant in some parts of the world, especially in places where forest fires and other forms of biomass burning are common, according to new research.
20 April 2012
Sadness, frustration, and ultimately admiration surround space shuttle Discovery’s welcome to Smithsonian
On Thursday, I went to the Udvar-Hazy Center to witness Discovery being rolled into the center’s space hangar. There, former U.S. Senator John Glenn, who became the oldest person in space when he launched aboard Discovery in 1998, gave a five-minute speech about the legacy of the space program, praising the ship behind him.
“Space shuttle Discovery is the star with the most extensive record of all the shuttle fleet,” he said, before expressing sadness that the shuttle program had ended, perhaps before its time. As he turned to sit, a man behind me in the audience said quietly, “Godspeed, John Glenn.”
18 April 2012
Growing populations lead to worldwide drop in surface water
When populations expand, the demand for fresh water rises. And over the past two decades, population growth has contributed to a 6 percent decline in worldwide surface water, according to a new study.
6 April 2012
Ocean’s plastic pollution runs deep
The ocean is filled with more plastics than previously thought, according to a new study. Tiny plastic fragments not only float on the ocean’s surface, but are also temporarily pushed beneath the top layer of water by the tumult caused by maritime winds.
2 April 2012
Tornado experts call for improved forecasting of deadly twisters
More than 250 tornadoes struck the United States in the first three months of 2012, touching down along a corridor from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Residents need to be better prepared for these deadly twisters, say scientists and experts on severe weather and emergency preparedness.
28 March 2012
Mount Etna’s fiery fountains measured
Italy’s Mount Etna has had a busy year doing what volcanoes do best — erupting and providing volcanologists and sightseers alike with a fiery show. Armed with a new technique to determine lava volumes, researchers can now add up the amount of material that made up the impressive volcanic displays last year.
23 March 2012
Tsunami preparedness briefing on Capitol Hill stresses disaster education
A year after the tsunami that devastated the Japanese coastline, the United States still needs to ramp up its tsunami preparedness, experts say. Scientists at a March 21 Capitol Hill briefing in Washington, D.C., stressed the importance of detecting tsunamis before they reach coastlines and educating the public on tsunami dangers.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news. 
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