GeoSpectrum

Majestic snow-capped “fourteeners,” alpine meadows carpeted in wildflowers, pristine mountain lakes. These are the images most people associate with Colorado. But charming mountain terrain is not the only attraction the Centennial State has to offer the geotraveler. One of Colorado’s lesser-known geologic marvels is a vast field of sand dunes - the tallest in North America - a site sure to thrill anyone.

Travel through the precipitous peaks and daunting dunes of Colorado as EARTH explores the Centennial State in the March issue. Read more about this adventurer’s dream, as well as other analytical stories on topics such as how oil and water helped the U.S. and its allies win World War II, how remote sensing is helping aid agencies prepare for famine before it strikes, and who should be paying for cleanup after wildfires and landslides wreak havoc, also in the March issue.

These stories and many more can be found in the March issue of EARTH, now available digitally (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital) or in print on your local newsstands.

For further information on the March featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/408-7db-2-4/.

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

The American Geological Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce the theme of Earth Science Week 2011 will be “Our Ever-Changing Earth.” This year’s event will engage the public in actively learning about the varied and interconnected natural processes that shape our planet over time.

Earth Science Week 2011 support materials and activities will demonstrate how evidence of change can be found everywhere, from the soil beneath our feet to the oceans and the atmosphere around us. Learn how the fossil record displays the history of change in plant and animal life. The evidence of change touches our lives in many ways, as we see in headlines about topics such as resource availability, evolution, and climate.

“Planetary change raises important questions among young people, educators, and the public,” says Ann E. Benbow, Ph.D., AGI’s Director of Education and Outreach. “Earth Science Week 2011 will highlight the important roles that paleontologists, geologists, and other earth scientists play in building understanding of the complex interactions among the earth systems — atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere — over time.”

AGI leads Earth Science Week annually in cooperation with its sponsors and the geosciences community as a service to the public. Each year, community groups, educators, and interested citizens organize celebratory events. Earth Science Week offers the public opportunities to discover the earth sciences and engage in responsible stewardship of the Earth. Earth Science Week is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, the AAPG Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the National Park Service, ExxonMobil, and ESRI.

ESW 2011 will be celebrated October 9-15. To learn more about this week and ways to get involved — including newsletters, local events, and classroom activities — please go to the Earth Science Week website at http://www.earthsciweek.org/.

The American Geological Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce that the YES Network, a professional global network for the support of early-career professionals and students in the geosciences, is the first International Associate of the AGI Federation.

The YES Network is a global network of individuals who are early-career geoscientists, students, or professionals interested in supporting the development of the next generation of geoscientists. The YES Network was formed as a result of the International Year of Planet Earth in 2007. Its first international Congress was in Beijing, China in 2009. That meeting focused on climate, environmental and geoscience challenges facing today’s society, as well as career and academic pathway challenges faced by early-career geoscientists.

Since the congress, the YES Network has more than tripled its membership and now has members in 102 countries working on geoscience projects in every corner of the globe. The YES Network aims to establish an interdisciplinary global network of individuals committed to earth science solutions to the global society’s challenges, and furthering the IYPE motto of “Earth Sciences for Society.” As the YES Network is a fully self-organizing network, there are no membership fees or dues.

“With the addition of YES to the larger AGI community, we are broadening the profession’s discussion not only internationally, but also more deeply with the emerging generation of geoscience leaders. I cannot think of a better group to be the inaugural International Associate than the YES Network. The member society council looks forward to working with this new organization to ensure that AGI is fulfilling its mission to serve as a voice of shared interest in the profession not just in the U.S. but throughout the world.” says AGI Executive Director, Dr. P. Patrick Leahy.

All information about YES Network activities and its ongoing events are posted on the YES Network site: http://www.networkyes.org/.

Ask your kid what happened to the dinosaurs, and he or she will likely tell you that an asteroid killed them all. But ask how dinosaurs rose to prominence and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Even many paleontologists may have little to say about the subject. But now, as EARTH explores in a feature in the February issue, new fossil discoveries are revealing the backstory of the rise of dinosaurs.

Learn more about this eye-opening subject in February’s article “Triassic Park: On the Origin of Dinosaur Species,” and read other analytical stories on topics such as what OPEC’s role in the international marketplace will be over the next 50 years, finding new oil and gas discoveries, reconsidering the economic implications of climate change and tracing nuclear weapons using bomb debris, also in the February issue.

These stories and many more can be found in the February issue of EARTH, now available digitally (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital) or in print on your local newsstands.

For further information on the February featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3f8-7db-1-12 .

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

Where to next in the search for oil and gas? EARTH examines several possible new frontiers — including the Arctic, the Falkland Islands, the Levant, Trinidad and Tobago and Sudan — where oil and gas exploration are starting to take hold. One of those places, Sudan, is in the news for other reasons: South Sudan voted yesterday on whether to secede from North Sudan.

But given that South Sudan holds more than 70 percent of Sudan’s 5 billion to 6 billion barrels of proven reserves, a lot in this election hinges on oil. If South Sudan does secede, how will both sides agree to a new oil profit-sharing agreement? What will it mean for both sides’ economies? EARTH examines what role oil will play in this international affair, as well as looking at how development in other new frontiers will affect the oil and gas marketplace.

Learn more about this eye-opening subject in February’s articles “Finding New Oil and Gas Frontiers,” and read other analytical stories on topics such as determining dinosaur origins, tracing nuclear weapons using bomb debris, and reconsidering the economic implications of climate change also in the February issue.

These stories and many more can be found in the February issue of EARTH, now available digitally (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital/) or in print on your local newsstands.

For further information on the February featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3f4-7db-1-8 .

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

Over the past five decades, OPEC has earned a reputation for being a powerful cartel that controls the world’s oil production and prices - but there are limits to OPEC’s influence and wealth. In fact, many OPEC countries face grave problems, which are to some extent the result of their oil-income dependence. EARTH examines OPEC’s past, current and future place in this world. Will OPEC continue to control the planet’s oil for the next 50 years?

Learn more about this eye-opening subject in February’s featured article “OPEC and Oil: The Next 50 Years,” and read other analytical stories on topics such as dinosaur origins, tracing nuclear weapons using bomb debris, and reconsidering the economic implications of climate change, all in the February issue.

These stories and many more can be found in the February issue of EARTH, now available digitally (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital) or in print on your local newsstands.

For further information on the February featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3e8-7db-1-3.

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

America has made great strides in recent years to reduce carbon emissions by increasing efficiency and turning to other, low or non-carbon energy sources. Meanwhile, carbon emissions in China have grown dramatically during that same time. EARTH looks at this disparity and asks the difficult questions about who is to blame when the coal China is burning is imported from “cleaner” countries and the emissions are produced to manufacture goods exported back to places with lower emissions.

Learn more about this eye-opening subject in January’s featured article “A Dirty Secret - China’s Greatest Import: Carbon Emissions” and read other news items on topics such as ice caves and developments in using GIS for geoarchaeology research.

These stories and more are all found in the January issue of EARTH, available on newsstands, and digitally (both single issue and full subscriptions) through Zinio (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital/).

For further information on the January story go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3cc-7da-b-16 .

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

To celebrate the new year, the American Geological Institute (AGI) is offering deep discounts of up to 75% off on some of its most popular book titles for purchases made by January 31st, 2011.

All Environmental Awareness Series publications, a great tool for the classroom and public outreach events, and the important Evolution and the Fossil Record will be marked down to $5.00. Minerals: Foundations of Society and the Glossary of Hydrology (normally $40.00) will each be available for $10.00.

Visit the AGI publications website at http://www.agiweb.org/pubs/ to learn more about this special limited time offer and our many other books, DVDs, t-shirts and more.

Author Steven M. Testa will hold a book signing for One Man’s Planet: Earth in Today’s Political Culture, published by the American Geological Institute (AGI) at the 2010 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.

The author will be signing copies of his book from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday December 14, 2010 at the AGI booth (#632) in the Moscone West exhibit hall. In addition to the book signing, copies of One Man’s Planet will be available for purchase throughout the meeting.

One Man’s Planet is one slightly off-centered geologist’s introduction on how politics, pop-culture and the earth sciences intersect. It’s a humorous look at the science issues that grace the news and drive political debates from local town councils to international discourse. One Man’s Planet picks apart the rhetoric on all sides of these debates to look at how the science describes the issue. Tackling topics like climate, energy, water, and hazards, Stephen Testa channels Pink Floyd, Mad Max, and Shakespeare among others to examine the latest scientific understanding of these issues. Testa deftly weaves topics into a very informative and entertaining tapestry on the planet today and the planet’s tomorrow. Come tour the Earth with Testa as your guide!

To learn more about One Man’s Planet or to purchase the publication directly through AGI, visit http://www.agiweb.org/pubs/pubdetail.html?item=300357.

The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 47 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.

In light of global concerns about emissions and climate change, the aviation industry is cleaning up its act. The industry is reducing emissions, decreasing fuel use, increasing efficiency and developing new technologies to alter its environmental impacts. The November issue of EARTH magazine focuses on the changes to learn how the aviation industry is using synthetic fuels and engineering, and even altering common flight plans to keep up with changing protocols and dwindling resources.

This article and others featuring reclaiming abandoned mines, and traveling to Jungfrau, Switzerland, can be found in the November issue of EARTH, now available on newsstands, and digitally (both single issue and full subscriptions) through Zinio (http://www.earthmagazine.org/digital/).

For further information on the November cover story go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3aa-7da-a-f/.

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.