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A new look at natural disasters
We are paying a high price for the way we live on our beautiful but dangerous planet. Last year the world experienced deadly earthquakes in Turkey, Taiwan, Colombia and Greece; floods and devastating landslides in Venezuela; hurricanes along the Atlantic Coast that forced evacuation of millions; and numerous smaller disasters. As bad as these events were, they were not extraordinary viewed in the context of previous 20th century occurrences.
Toward an effective global green economy: The Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI)
Global population growth, economic development and the accelerating pace of technological innovation are driving increased demand for non-fuel mineral commodities that are vital for emerging and low-carbon technologies. Examples of such commodities include cobalt and graphite for rechargeable batteries, tellurium in thin-film solar photovoltaics and rare earth elements (REE) in permanent magnets, electronics and medical technologies. These commodities are known as critical elements and/or minerals (collectively referred to as critical minerals), with the term critical used to define not only their importance for new technologies, but also their demand and vulnerability to supply disruption. The demand for critical minerals is likely to continue to grow, but supply is not assured. Therefore, national strategies in Australia, Canada, United States and elsewhere (e.g. Europe: Wittenberg et al. 2021) are being developed to encourage exploration and production, including resolving the geological processes responsible for their enrichrichment into viable ore deposits. In 2019, Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) formed the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI) to undertake research to develop a better understanding of critical mineral resources in known deposits, determine the geological controls on critical mineral distribution for deposits currently producing by-products, and identify new sources of supply through mineral prospectivity mapping and resource assessment.
Overview of the effects and influence of the activity of Mount St. Helens in the 1980s
The cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, made an enormous impact on the science of volcanology. The eruption was in daylight in clear weather, which provided an unprecedented opportunity to investigate relations among observations, products, and effects of a large explosive eruption. The May 18 events and subsequent activity stimulated perhaps the most intensive studies ever made at an active composite volcano, leading to greatly enhanced insights into both geologic and hydrologic processes operative in explosive volcanism. The eruption also disrupted much of the social and economic fabric of the Pacific Northwest. Volcanologists were called upon to explain the activity, in layman's terms, to government and corporate officials, the news media, schools, and the public at large. People eventually learned to live with the volcano and its uncertainties, and volcanologists better learned their role in helping society deal with a major natural disaster. Difficulties encountered at volcanic crises elsewhere in the world in the 1980s demonstrate that these are hard lessons. In future years, a paramount challenge for scientists will be to help society apply what has been learned at Mount St. Helens to crises both nearby and far away.