The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce that the theme of Earth Science Week 2014 will be “Earth’s Connected Systems.” This year’s event will promote awareness of the dynamic interactions of the planet’s natural systems. Earth Science Week 2014 learning resources and activities will engage young people and others in exploring the ways that geoscience illuminates natural change processes. By deepening our understanding of interactions of Earth systems – geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere – Earth science helps us manage our greatest challenges and make the most of vital opportunities. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — What goes into a great wine and what role does geology play? Wine experts use the word terroir to describe the myriad environmental influences, including climate, that go into growing winegrapes. Climate is arguably the most influential factor and it produces the most identifiable differences among wines. So how is climate change affecting wines globally? And how do other factors, such as the bedrock below the vineyard and the soil, produce subtle expressions of terroir? [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is extending the deadline for nominations for the Edward C. Roy Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching. To be eligible, applications must be postmarked by February 7, 2014. Given annually, this award is presented to one full-time K-8 teacher in the U.S. or U.K. whose excellence and innovation in the classroom elevates students’ understanding of the Earth and its many processes. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — Yesterday, 52 scientists, journalists and tourists were rescued from frozen Antarctic waters, where their ship, the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, had been stuck in ice since December 24th, 2013. Everyone was safe but what would make people travel in such perilous conditions to the southernmost part of the planet? Adventure, history and tremendous scientific research opportunities is what continually draws people to explore the frigid continent. There, people can see species that exist nowhere else on Earth, can see the remains of ancient supercontinents and can walk in the footsteps of scientific giants like Darwin and Shackleton — experiencing an environment incomprehensible, and far too inhospitable for most. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - When individuals die in a natural disaster or property damage is costly, can anyone be blamed? After the 2012 conviction of six Italian geoscientists on manslaughter charges related to communication about the hazards prior to the Aquila earthquake in 2009, scientists worldwide are keen to understand the risks of their hazards research. EARTH Magazine investigates the complicated and often nuanced risks scientists face in hazard research. From the meaning of liability - defined on an international spectrum - to the legal lessons learned from climate scientists, researching the point at which Earth’s hazards impact society’s economic or morbidity appraisals requires a balancing act. [Read More]

On March 11, 2011, Norwegian citizens living along fjord coastlines were perplexed as rare waves sloshed along local docks and seawalls. The waves almost seemed like tsunami waves. Naturally, the residents grabbed their cell phones to document. The video and photo coverage of the rare waves would eventually help scientists identify and describe the phenomenon: seismically generated water waves called seiches, which had been set in motion by the massive Tohoku earthquake half a world away. [Read More]

The Critical Issues program, part of the American Geosciences Institute’s (AGI’s) Center for GEducation and Public Understanding, has just released the preliminary results of the “Defining Critical Issues” survey. The survey results can be accessed from the Critical Issues program website. The majority of responses to the web-based survey were from geoscientists in the post-secondary academic sector, while the number of responses from the public and the decision-making community was substantially smaller. [Read More]

Geoscientists using every resource available to them — from bare-earth LIDAR technology to knowledge of turn-of-the-century fashion — have helped correct a 100-year-old mistake about where the San Andreas Fault rupture point was for the historic 1906 earthquake. Braving poison oak and complicated earthquake policy, scientists spent years trying to locate California’s Portola Valley and finally succeeded courtesy of old photos. Read how the San Andreas Fault was rediscovered in the December issue of EARTH Magazine: http://bit. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), in collaboration with the Geoscience Energy Briefing Coalition, announces the debut event of the Energy from the Earth: Practical Geoscience to Inform Energy Legislation briefing series. The Energy from the Earth congressional briefing series will highlight the importance of geoscience information for sound energy and environmental legislation. The series will focus on the geological resources (petroleum, natural gas, coal, uranium, thorium, geothermal, and water) that supported almost 90 percent of the energy consumed by the United States in 2011. [Read More]

Traditionally, Earth Magazine has published a “highlights” or “year in review” issue at the end of the year. This year for our December issue, we decided to try a different approach: instead of focusing on the top news and research highlights of the last year, we asked our staff and some frequent contributors to write a short commentary on something that grabbed their attention in 2013. We ended up with a collection of extremely varied, often personal insights into how the planet impacted each individual. [Read More]