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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.
8 December 2011
Japanese megaquake triggered tiny California tremors
As southern Californians absorbed the news of the devastating March 11 earthquake in Japan, seismic instruments under their feet sensed the shocks as well.
14 September 2011
Atmospheric electrons may act differently before megaquakes
Just before the recent huge earthquake in Japan, electron counts in the atmosphere high above the epicenter took a surprising turn, a new study indicates. Measurements gleaned from GPS satellites recorded more electrons in the ionosphere over the soon-to rupture fault than expected. A similar uptick occurred before extra-large quakes in Chile in 2010 and Sumatra in 2004, the researcher found.
A tantalizing question for seismologists and atmospheric scientists is whether this high-altitude electron bump, if confirmed by other studies, is a true early-warning signal for devastating earthquakes.
1 August 2011
Measuring tsunami remnants half a world away
By the time the waves of the 2004 Sumatra tsunami swept half way across the globe and reached Drake Passage at the Southern tip of South America, they were just ripples.
But two pressure gauges deep below the surface of the passage reacted to those tiny remnants of the once-towering waves, giving scientists a fortuitous opportunity to study the long-distance behavior of a tsunami.
15 October 2010
Population trends, not climate, causing increased flood fatalities in Africa
Guest post by Anne Jefferson, assistant professor at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, UNC Charlotte, and science blogger at Highly Allochthonous In August 2009, unusually heavy rains lasting six hours deluged the city of Khartoum in Sudan. Higher, wealthier parts of the city were relatively unaffected, but in the vast shanty towns that surround the city center, people lost their possessions, homes, and lives. Twenty-seven people died, and …
14 July 2010
Cities may be magnets for disaster
Between the recent oil spill and Hurricane Katrina, it might seem that New Orleans is a magnet for disasters. A new study suggests that could be true – researchers have found that coastal cities could actually attract hurricanes. Johnny Chan and Andie Au-Yeung of the City University of Hong Kong wanted to improve forecasts of where hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, will go as they approach land. This “track forecasting” is …
7 May 2010
Capitol Hill briefing: What we can learn from the Haitian earthquake of 2010
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January caused disproportionate havoc relative to its magnitude: At least 230,000 people died and scores of schools, government buildings and houses were destroyed. In comparison, the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile a few weeks later, an event so large that might have shifted Earth’s axis, killed less than 500. To analyze the causes of the massive destruction in Haiti and …
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.