Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Measurements of winter Arctic sea ice shows continuing ice loss, study finds

Measurements of winter Arctic sea ice shows continuing ice loss, study finds

Email me a short summary of the article and your response to it and receive 5 extra credit points on your next exam.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Environmental Science Project

This project is due 4/4/2011.  Please remember that book report digital rough drafts are due on Friday, 4/1/11 (no joke!)


Where are the best renewable and non-renewable energy resources in the US? In the World? 


• Create a map showing the locations of the three best energy resources in our region. The map can be on the scale of county, state, country, continent or world. (Molly and Shayna)

• Create a series of maps showing the distribution of several energy 
resources in our region, with one energy resource depicted in each map. (Rachel and Shandra)


• If you could power an entire region (for instance, the state of Kansas) solely on renewable energy, how would you distribute wind farms, geothermal plants, hydroelectric power, biomass and solar utilities across the region? Create a map showing your plan. (Jacob, Aaron and Matthew).


Resources: 
1. http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/ 
2. http://www.eia.doe.gov/ 
3. http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/usingdata/index.html 
4. http://www.wattsun.com/resources.html 
5. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt 
6. http://www.ussdams.org/ 
7. http://energy.er.usgs.gov/products/databases/USCoal/index.htm 
8. http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html 
9.  Biomass Resource Information Clearinghouse (see www.nrel.gov


Hint: Use information about US Agriculture production to map the location of the best biomass resources. 

Monday, March 14, 2011

More tsunami news

As tsunami cleanup continues, the worry has now turned to possible failure of the Fukushima nuclear energy facility.  Here is why health risks are minimal. This article explains why nuclear fears may be overstated, especially when compared to the risks of oil-based energy that we all take for granted. 


Here is a primer on how nuclear energy is created.


Lots going on in Japan

First, I threw together this short primer on plate tectonic in the area.