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Last Updated: Apr 22, 2008 - 8:04:40 PM

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Announcements
Earthquake Hazard Maps Show How the Nation Shakes with Quakes
Friday's magnitude-5.2 earthquake in southern Illinois is a reminder that earthquakes are a national hazard.
Apr 22, 2008 - 8:02:25 PM

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NOAA's Launches New Multimedia National Ocean Service is launching today a new
NOAA's National Ocean Service is launching today a new multimedia elementary educational program, Nautical Charts, at the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association in Boston.
Apr 22, 2008 - 7:56:22 PM

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National Wetlands Maps Debut on Google Earth
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maps of the National Wetlands Inventory are now available for viewing using Google Earth. The wetlands inventory includes wetlands data for approximately 60 percent of the conterminous U.S., as well as portions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
Apr 22, 2008 - 7:41:05 PM

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Baseball Season is Here! Time to Play in the Clay
Clay is used on baseball and softball fields in the base paths, batter's boxes, bullpens, pitcher's mounds, and practice areas. If used by itself, however, clay is not an ideal surface for play. In the early days of baseball, the clay infield would become as hard as concrete in the summer heat and a slippery marsh after a rain storm.
Apr 4, 2008 - 8:02:16 AM

Announcements
Gov. Schwarzenegger Highlights Nation’s Largest Rooftop Solar Installation Project as Key to Achieving California’s Renewable Energy Goals
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Southern California Edison officials today on the rooftop of ProLogis in Fontana to announce the nation's largest rooftop solar installation project ever proposed by a utility company. It will place 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology on 65 million square feet of unused commercial buildings' rooftops in Southern California-that's enough clean power to serve 162,000 average Southern California homes.

Mar 28, 2008 - 1:37:58 AM

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Oil and Gas Lease Sales in Gulf of Mexico Attract $3.7 Billion
Two federal sales of offshore oil and natural gas leases in the Eastern and Central Gulf of Mexico attracted more than $3.7 billion in high bids today, inaugurating enhanced revenue sharing with oil and gas producing Gulf states, instituting higher royalty rates and underscoring the region’s continuing importance as a vital source of domestic energy production for the nation.
Mar 20, 2008 - 8:48:20 AM

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Short-Term Energy Outlook: March 2008
The slowing economy combined with high petroleum prices is expected to constrain growth in U.S. consumption of liquid fuels and other petroleum products to just 40,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2008.  After accounting for increased ethanol use, U.S. petroleum consumption falls by 90,000 bbl/d.   U.S. real gross domestic product is expected to decline slightly in the first half of the year and then start growing again, with growth for 2008 as a whole at 1.3 percent, the slowest annual rate since 2001.
Mar 19, 2008 - 3:56:12 PM

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Climate Change: Ocean “Deserts” Expanding
The least biologically productive areas of the oceans are expanding much faster than predicted, according to a new study by researchers at NOAA and the University of Hawaii. This change in ocean biology, linked to the warming of sea surface waters, may negatively affect the populations of many fish species trying to survive in these desert-like environments.
Mar 10, 2008 - 11:43:52 AM

Announcements
Portable Generator: NIST to Study Hazards of Portable Gasoline-Powered Generators

T he same gasoline-powered portable generators that keep the lights burning, the freezer cold, and the house warm when a storm shuts off the electricity, can also kill you in minutes if you fail to follow safe practices. A single generator can emit several hundred times more poisonous carbon monoxide than a modern car’s exhaust. To help quantify the dangers of improperly used portable generators, and evaluate possible technical solutions to the problem, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has enlisted the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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EPA Launches New Web Multimedia Portal.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today launched its new web multimedia portal. The multimedia portal is EPA’s one-stop location for environmental video, audio/podcasts, and photography.

Feb 27, 2008 - 8:19:17 AM

Announcements
Going Green: FTC Announces Workshop on Green Guides and Packaging

The Green Guides and Packaging workshop will provide a forum for the discussion of topics such as: 1) trends in packaging and the resulting environmental packaging claims; 2) packaging terms currently covered by the Green Guides and whether the perception of these terms has changed over the past decade; 3) new green packaging terms not currently addressed in the Green Guides; 4) claims based on third-party certification and consumer perception of such claims; 5) the impact of scientific and technological changes, including the use of new packaging materials and their impact on the environment; 6) the current state of substantiation for green packaging claims; and 7) the need for new or updated FTC guidance in these areas.

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Earthworms Found to Contain Chemicals from Households and Animal Manure
Earthworms studied in agricultural fields have been found to contain organic chemicals from household products and manure, indicating that such substances are entering the food chain.
Feb 20, 2008 - 8:47:51 PM

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Global Warming: Study Reveals Public Concern about Global Warming

SACRAMENTO--A recent study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) reveals that 85 percent of those surveyed believe global warming is real. It also reveals more than 78 percent of all respondents believe practicing recycling and waste reduction has an impact on global warming. However, when asked how they can prevent landfill waste, the majority of Californians only cited recycling habits.

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New Study Shows Extent of Harmful Human Influences on Global Marine Ecosystems
More than 40 percent of the world’s oceans are heavily impacted by human activities, including overfishing and pollution, according to a new study that will appear in tomorrow’s peer-reviewed journal Science
Feb 14, 2008 - 2:57:48 PM

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How did life begin? New, traveling exhibit highlights how life emerged
How did life begin? Can scientists create life in the lab? Will we find life on other planets? A new exhibit just opened in the atrium of the National Science Foundation (NSF) offers some intriguing insights into new theories about life's origin, based on current research at the Santa Fe Institute (SFI).
Feb 13, 2008 - 9:10:48 PM

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Desert Tortoises Exposed to and Affected by High Arsenic Levels
Desert tortoises spend much of their lives in contact with dust, soil and sediments, including potentially toxic elements. A study by USGS scientists on soil, stream sediment and plant samples in the Mojave and Colorado deserts, inhabited by tortoises, revealed abnormal concentrations of arsenic due to nearby mining of arsenic-rich ores.
Feb 7, 2008 - 6:56:18 AM

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How Much Water is Available for America?
Currently, there is no definite answer regarding how much water is available for America's use. To help address this issue, the President's FY 2009 budget proposes to increase USGS funding by $9.5 million to assess the availability and use of our nation's water resources. USGS scientists will characterize current water availability; how streamflows, groundwater and basin storage are changing over time
Feb 7, 2008 - 6:52:12 AM

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Get Cash for Dirty Trucks; Over $100 Million Available
 Owners of older heavy-duty vehicles and equipment can get one-on-one help with grant and rebate applications under the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP).


Feb 2, 2008 - 5:52:37 PM

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Summer Undergraduate Internship 2008 - Environmental Health
CDC invites qualified applicants to apply for a ten week summer program for in Environmental Public Health at the National Center for Environmental Health /Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a 10 week paid summer internship for undergraduate students passionate about the environment, about health, and about the link between the two — this opportunity is for students majoring in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, or related fields. 
Jan 29, 2008 - 11:04:46 PM

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USGS Earthquake Information Available in Google Earth
Users of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake information now have an additional way to access that information. undefined undefined undefined undefined By viewing worldwide historic earthquake data with Google Earth^TM mapping technology, users can quickly and easily visualize scientific information in a geographic context.
Jan 29, 2008 - 12:35:15 PM

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Foreign Science and Engineering Graduate Students Returning to U.S. Colleges
Enrollment of first-time, full-time foreign graduate students on temporary visas studying science and engineering (S&E) grew by 16 percent in 2006, following a 4 percent increase in 2005. The increases in the past two years reflect a reversal of the declines in enrollments of new foreign S&E graduate students experienced after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
Jan 28, 2008 - 2:27:06 PM

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Going Green: Fifty-three Fortune 500 Corporations Surpass EPA Green Power Goals Intel Corporation Leads Nation as New No. 1 Purchaser
In  response to EPA’s nationwide challenge issued in December 2006, 53 Fortune 500 companies led by Intel Corporation are now collectively purchasing more than six billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually.
Jan 28, 2008 - 1:28:12 PM

Announcements
Nanotechnology: The Big News is Small
Americans are famous for building big: the tallest sky scraper, the biggest jet, the widest plasma TV screen. But now U.S. entrepreneurs are considering thinking small. Nanotechnology uses particles 80,000 times smaller than a human hair; yet the new technology has the potential to quickly clean up pollution, cure serious illnesses, and make the computer silicon chip obsolete. While EPA looks forward to new environmental breakthroughs, the Agency’s first commitment is to protect human health and the environment. Therefore EPA has awarded 21 grants totaling $7.34 million to universities to investigate potential adverse health and environmental effects of manufactured nanomaterials.
Jan 28, 2008 - 1:21:03 PM

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Brown To EPA: Obey Supreme Court Mandate
WASHINGTON DC--California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today called upon the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency to obey the Supreme Court’s landmark decision," Massachusetts v. EPA, opening a new front in the legal battle for tailpipe greenhouse gas regulations
Jan 25, 2008 - 8:47:02 AM

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Quakes Under Pacific Ocean Floor Reveal Unexpected Circulation System
Zigzagging some 60,000 kilometers across the ocean floor, Earth's system of mid-ocean ridges plays a pivotal role in many workings of the planet: in plate-tectonic movements, heat flow from the interior, and the chemistry of rock, water and air.
Jan 11, 2008 - 10:52:29 AM