Month: November 2020
Dana’s Pandemic Holiday Shopping Guide
Ah, yes, it’s that time of year again, where the holidays bunch up like they’ve put off celebrating til the last minute and suddenly it’s time to give All The Gifts. Of course, this being 2020, and many of us being in America where the ostensible leader can’t see reality past his artificially inflated ego, this is a complicated holiday season. Many of us will be socially distancing still. Viruses don’t take holidays, even when we wish they would.
Thanks to eCommerce, though, we can still give our loved ones some nice little gifts if we don’t want to skip that part, many of which will help while away a long pandemic winter. Let’s explore!
Our Fabulous Floods of Fire and Ice Book List
Floods of lava, followed by floods of glacial lake water, formed some of the most intriguing landscapes in the American West. The books herein explore the remarkable geologic events involved. Whether you’re looking for cool summer reading (Southern Hemisphere) or some hawt winter stories (Northern Hemisphere), I’ve got you covered. Here’s your all-ages pass to the stories behind some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth!
A Coulee Thanksgiving
Happy American Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you’re having a safe and happy holiday if it’s one you celebrate.
Turkey is a traditional part of proceedings. My family likes their turkey on the dry side. Fortunately for us, there’s plenty of turkeys on the dry side of Washington State.
Rainbows Over Geology
Are you ready for some spectacularly beautiful images? It’s a tough time: of course you need some beauty in your life. Allow me to provide!
In between pandemic lockdown preparations, I’ve been spelunking the USGS website and watching the OG Knight Rider. K.I.T.T. is absolutely marvelous, but not quite as beautiful as some of these images I’m finding. USGS scientists are pretty talented photographers! And while most of the photos they take in the field are for strictly scientific purposes, they also turn their lenses to capture the ephemeral beauty that happens geology and meteorology combine.
I’ve lightly edited these photos to enhance their awesomeness. You can click the link in the titles to see the originals.
“The Earthquake Was So Strong, And It Was Very Long:” The 2020 Aegean Sea Earthquake
The geologic story of the Mediterranean is seismic. Tectonic or volcanic, earthquakes abound. A look at any seismic monitoring page for the region will show a cacophany of tremors, most never felt. But every few years, sometimes more than once a year, stressed faults fail catastrophically, and the human toll is grim.
On October 30th, 2020, the 40 kilometer Samos Fault, just offshore from the Greek island of Samos, slipped at a depth of about 21 kilometers, unleashing a devastating earthquake that has been variously measured at M6.7, M6.9, and M7.0. The intensity reached VIII on the Mercalli scale. This was the largest magnitude the fault is capable of, and many witnesses said it’s one of the longest earthquakes they’ve experienced. One said the shaking lasted 25 seconds. That becomes an eternity when you’re trying to find safety. (more…)
Vote. It’s the Most Important Thing You Can Do
It’s Election Day in the United States. We have an important choice to make and a vital task to complete. If you haven’t voted yet, you have hours left to get your ballot in.
I voted a straight Blue ticket. It’s the only reasonable choice, and I would have made it even if George W. Bush’s disastrous reign hadn’t already pushed me left. All of my life, I’ve watched Republicans become steadily more anti-democracy, anti-science, anti-reason, anti-LGBTQ, anti-diversity, and anti-woman.
Those tendencies culminated in Trump, who has at times actually made me nostalgic for the Bush era.Trump has been an utter disaster for our country. He has been a disaster for science, for our public lands, for public education, and for democracy. He is a racist bully who has emboldened white supremacists. He ripped children away from their parents, and now hundreds of them may never be reunited. He has cozied up to dictators while pushing away on allies. He’s… well, a list of his sins would keep us here through election night.
And Republicans have enabled him all the way.