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earth matters
science and insights for people who care about Earth, its resources and its environment

Natural Hazards

March 7, 2016

Fukushima five years later: Stanford nuclear expert offers three lessons from the disaster

Stanford News Service

On the fifth anniversary of the partial meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, Stanford's Rodney Ewing says we should rethink our language, reassess natural disaster risks and appreciate the links between nuclear energy and renewables.

Energy, Natural Hazards
Mark Zoback
Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

What's Behind the Earthquakes in Oklahoma?

February 22, 2016
Research by Stanford Earth's Mark Zoback finds that the recent spike in triggered earthquakes in Oklahoma is primarily due to the injection of wastewater produced during oil production.
Energy, Natural Hazards
January 22, 2016

Reset Nuclear Waste Policy

FSI & CISAC
America’s nuclear waste is accumulating at over seventy sites in 39 states – but there is no clear way forward for its final disposal.
Energy, Natural Hazards
January 22, 2016

Aliso Canyon: California’s bellwether natural gas leak

Medium

Rob Jackson breaks down the massive natural gas storage facilities leak in Southern California.

Energy, Natural Hazards
January 15, 2016

Plan to Bury Plutonium in New Mexico Underestimates Safety Risks

Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Rod Ewing and coauthors warn that a proposal to bury plutonium in New Mexico underestimates the risks.

Energy, Natural Hazards
January 4, 2016

Natural or manmade quakes? New Stanford technique can tell the difference

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

A study by Stanford geophysicists shows that earthquakes resulting from wastewater injection follow several indicative patterns that are starkly different from natural causes.

Human Dimensions and Sustainability, Natural Hazards
December 17, 2015

Earth and space science, in cartoons!

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

Stanford Earth’s multimedia producer Miles Traer captures the latest scientific discoveries presented at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in this ongoing series of cartoons drawn live from the event.

Climate Change, Dynamic Earth, Energy, Evolution of Earth and Life, Natural Hazards
December 4, 2015

Stanford scientists develop 'Shazam for earthquakes'

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

A new algorithm designed to find matching seismic signals in large earthquake databases could find previously missed microquakes.

Dynamic Earth, Natural Hazards
The Macellum of Pozzuoli
July 9, 2015

Volcanic rocks resembling Roman concrete explain record uplift

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

Research by Tiziana Vanorio finds that fiber-reinforced rocks beneath Italy’s dormant Campi Flegrei supervolcano are similar to a wonder-material used by the ancients to construct enduring structures such as the Pantheon, and may lead to improved building materials.

Natural Hazards, Evolution of Earth and Life
June 18, 2015

Drought increases the spread of HIV in Africa

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

A new study by Marshall Burke finds that bad weather in sub-Saharan Africa increases the spread of HIV. 

Natural Hazards
June 18, 2015

Oklahoma earthquakes linked to oil and gas wastewater disposal wells

Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

A new Stanford study finds that the recent spike in triggered earthquakes in Oklahoma is primarily due to the injection of wastewater produced during oil production.

Energy, Natural Hazards

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