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by Jose Lozano“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors: we borrow it from our children.” Native American proverb… My position at the Environmental Protection Agency allows me to observe first-hand environmental hazards and their impact on public health. I love the fact that what I do…
Lava and Lava Flows The temperature of basalt lava at Kilauea reaches 1,160 degrees Celsius (2,120 degrees Fahrenheit). -- USGS/VHP Website, 1998 The tube system (lava tubes) of episode 53 (Pu'u O'o eruption, Hawaii) carried lava for 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the vent to the sea. So…
Tsunamis are ocean waves caused by large earthquakes and landslides that occur near or under the ocean. Scientists do not use the term 'tidal wave' because these waves are not caused by tides. Tsunami waves are unlike typical ocean waves generated by wind and storms. When tsunamis approach…
The U.S. Geological Survey WaterAlert service sends e-mail or text messages when certain parameters measured by a USGS data-collection station exceed user-definable thresholds. The development and maintenance of the WaterAlert system is supported through the USGS Cooperative Water Program , the USGS…
Visit the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) web pages at http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/ . The National Wildlife Health Center was established in 1975 as a biomedical laboratory dedicated to assessing the impact of disease on wildlife and to identifying the role of various pathogens in…
Not specifically. Our charge is to understand characteristics of the earth, especially the earth's surface, that affect our Nation's land, water, and biological resources. That includes quite a bit of environmental monitoring. Other agencies, especially NOAA and NASA, are specifically funded…
There are two basic kinds of floods, flash floods and the more widespread river flooding. Flash floods generally cause greater loss of life and river floods generally cause greater loss of property. A flash flood occurs when runoff from excessive rainfall causes a rapid rise in the stage of a stream…
During the three giant caldera-forming eruptions that occurred between 2.1 million and 640,000 years ago, tiny particles of volcanic debris ( volcanic ash ) covered much of the western half of North America, likely a third of a meter deep several hundred kilometers from Yellowstone and several…
Seismic hazard is the hazard associated with potential earthquakes in a particular area. For further information, see: USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps .
The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 47 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. For more information to to AGI's website .
The USGS provides access to water-resources data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Online access to this data is organized around the categories listed to the left. The USGS investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality,…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has contaminant-specific fact sheets for many drinking water contaminants on their Web page Drinking water and health: What you need to know . Click on 'What are the health effects of contaminants in drinking water?' This page also addresses the…