Due the lack of time I am not writing long topics anymore, but as soon as I can I’ll return to the normal posts. Meanwhile here are some (late) news of the week.
- Frozen underworld discovered beneath Greenland ice sheet
- NOAA Deploying New Drones Into Hurricanes
- Industry Endangering Forests in Alberta Rockies, Study Says
Frozen Underworld Discovered Beneath Greenland Ice Sheet
Scientists have discovered a frozen underworld beneath the ice sheet covering northern Greenland. The previously unknown landscape, a vast expanse of warped shapes including some as tall as a Manhattan skyscraper, was found using ice-penetrating radar loaded aboard Nasa survey flights.
Well, what does it mean? It means that the findings could deepen understanding of how the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica respond to climate change. There is a brief explanation of how this underworld could influence the melting of the ice sheet in the part three of the documentary I posted here a few weeks ago The climate wars.
Photo credit: Jason Gulley
NOAA Deploying New Drones Into Hurricanes
Drones will be let loose in hurricanes this year with the goal of improving intensity forecasts. The small drones were developed after Hurricane Sandy and will be tested for the first time this hurricane season. They’ll be launched into the eyes of tropical systems to detect barometric pressure changes. What they find should help the National Hurricane Center get a better handle on how strong a storm could become.
This is really cool. However the drones (Coyotes) cost about $70,000 apiece and there is no expectation of seeing them again after the hurricane.
Industry Endangering Forests in Alberta Rockies, Study Says
A report based on new satellite imagery says forests on the slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains are disappearing more quickly than anywhere else in the province – including the oilsands area. I though only Brazil was sloppy with its forests. Here is an awesome website to check forests cover worldwide: http://www.globalforestwatch.org
Photo credit: CBC
Spider X bass 