Category Archives: Environmental Science

Fracking: What Is It and How Will It Affect You?

Those most involved in the study and procedures of fracking are geologists as it concerns natural processes of the ground beneath our feet – the soil and rock formations and of course the fossil fuels that organisations and governments wish to exploit. Most people involved in technical aspects of the fossil fuel industry are geology…
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Principles and Applications of Aerial Photography

Desk based research is not just about reading papers for vital pieces of information, it is not just about tables, graphs, facts and figures. For many, primary data is all around us; aerial photography, for example, is an important source of information for researchers in landscape studies. This includes disciplines such as Landscape Archaeology (the…
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Drought Issues Facing the United States

What is Drought? The dictionary defines drought as “a period of dry weather” or “an extended shortage (1).” Drought has always been difficult to define because it varies based on location and associated impacts to the human and natural environment (2). In all cases, drought is temporary in nature, tends to be cyclical and results…
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Dendrochronology: What Tree Rings Tell Us About Past and Present

Studying Dendrochronology Dendrochronology is the study of data from tree ring growth. Due to the sweeping and diverse applications of this data, specialists can come from many academic disciplines. There are no degrees in dendrochronology because though it is useful across the board, the method itself is fairly limited. Most people who enter into studying…
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Principles and Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Use of GIS has seen unprecedented growth in the last ten years. With the powerful technology getting cheaper and system memories expanding, meaning that we can handle much bigger sets of data, some say that GIS is in a golden age. It was once the preserve of the cartographer – few outside would have used…
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El Niño and La Niña: Their Impact on the Environment

We know that there are many anthropogenic forcings on the climate, particularly the volume of carbon and greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere as a part of our everyday lives. Yet there are a number of natural processes that affect local weather, regional climate and global conditions. Some effects on our climate are a result…
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Gaining International Experience in Environmental Science

Whether you have been hit by the travel bug, your parents promised a trip for graduation (anywhere you wanted to go!), you can’t find a job close to home, or you just plain want to build a skill-set to set you apart from your peers, you may be looking for international work in Environmental Science. …
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Recommended Environmental Science Articles & Journals

Information about what is happening in the scientific community reaches us a variety of ways.  Some may be through a group you follow on social media.  Some may be via word of mouth, or CNN, BBC, in a class, on the radio as a public notice, overheard at a restaurant, etc.  One tried and true…
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How Does Radiocarbon-14 Dating Work?

What is Radiocarbon Dating? Radiocarbon dating is a method of what is known as “Absolute Dating”. Despite the name, it does not give an absolute date of organic material – but an approximate age, usually within a range of a few years either way. The other method is “Relative Dating” which gives an order of…
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Is Environmental Science Really a Good Major?

Is Environmental Science Really a Good Major? Imagine your family has been asking for years what you will specialize in when you go to college and you have just decided to change from “undeclared” to environmental science”. Will you be met with blank stares, head shakes, or grumbles about “you’ll never do anything good with…
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