Soil moisture estimates, inferred from thousands of tree rings spanning the past 12 centuries, highlight the severity of the recent record-breaking drought.
Hazards & Disasters
Posted inScience Updates
Exploring Natural Hazard Policies with Bike Helmets and Bus Fares
A close look at everyday decisions—whether or not to wear a bike helmet or cheat on bus fare—helps students learn about assessing natural hazards, mitigating risks, and setting political priorities.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Found: The Submarine Source of an 1891 Eruption Near Sicily
Analysis of a volcano may help explain why some eruptions produce volcanic balloons–hollow chunks of lava that encase a gas-filled cavity.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Seismic Stress Modeling Puts Istanbul in the Crosshairs
Twenty years of ground motion observations show that seismic strain is accumulating south of Istanbul.
Posted inNews
Internet Users Act as Earthquake Trackers
Armed with Internet connections, smartphones, and Twitter handles, citizens around the world are helping seismologists track earthquakes.
Posted inScience Updates
Keeping Watch Over Colombia's Slumbering Volcanoes
Technology used in your car's navigation system can help save the lives of those living in the shadows of volcanoes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Radio Blackout! Ham Radio as an Operational and Scientific Instrument
Monitoring solar activity that disrupts communications can be helped by crowdsourced and automated reports from amateur radio operators.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracking Down a Subduction Zone Earthquake
Researchers use computer simulations to find the date and earthquake source of an ancient tsunami that deposited sediment in a Hawaii sinkhole.
Posted inScience Updates
Earthquake Monitoring Gets Boost from New Satellite
Europe's Sentinel-1A spacecraft and its extraordinary images of slip from the South Napa earthquake herald a new era of space-based surveillance of faults.
Posted inNews
D. C. Project Aims to Cut Most Storm Water Runoff Problems
The Clean Rivers Project aims to dramatically reduce combined sewage overflows into D. C.’s waterways, improving water quality while also promoting resilience to climate change.