Redoubt Leaves No Doubt It Is Active

Mount Redoubt, a volcano located in Alaska has finally blown after 20 years of silence. Ash spewed from the volcano for over nine miles. Anchorage, Alaska's largest city didn't catch much of the ash but towns north of it did. Just 50 miles north of Anchorage, Willow was hit with inches of ash. People are careful to stay inside and keep all of their cars and other vehicles covered up so they don't get damaged by the rough ash. In light of this event 19 flights, so far, have been cancelled and Elmendorf Air Force Base has sheltered all of it's aircraft. At 10:38 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, the first eruption occurred, with the last eruption happening at 4:30 a.m. the following day. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the ash cloud is headed toward Mount McKinley, dropping bits of fine ash as it goes. Luckily this event did not come with surprise. The observatory had warned that "An eruption could occur at anytime" when they recorded increased seismic activity in late January. Scientists raised the alert level after abnormally high seismic activity in the forty-eight hours leading up to the eruption. The day of the eruption, there was somewhere between forty and fifty earthquakes recorded around the area. With the history of this volcano it would be wise to prepare for another eruption in the next couple days or weeks.

Mount Redoubts eruption is possibly the biggest environmental impact Alaska has had in the past year. When the ash and larger tephra fall from the sky they tend to kill things they land on. More deadly than this tephra falling on someone, is the ash getting inside someone. If people start to inhale the ash before they know what is happening they are going to be choking up blood before they can walk out of the street. I don't know about you, but i like my blood in my body. With the struggling economy the way it is, this has the potential to be an economical disaster. Ash will get into things, collapse buildings, and the government will have to pay a bunch of damage expenses while the insurance companies go broke from every one's claims.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29833845/

"Alaska volcano sends ash plume 9 miles high." MSNBC. 23 Mar 2009. 24 Mar 2009 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29833845/ .

Artificial Rain!

Researchers from London specializing in nanotechnology have recently discovered one-dimensional ice chains that may be able to produce artificial rain. What is really interesting about these structures is that they are pentagonal, not the conventional hexagonal shape. Scientists used to believe that hexagons were the only shape that ice could form in; this is seen in structures such as snowflakes. Now, with this evidence of ice with a pentagonal pattern, scientists specializing in artificial rain research now can focus on other geometric patterns in their research besides the hexagonal pattern. Dr. Javier Carrasco said "We need to understand the structure of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere because they play an important role in the formation of clouds and precipitation." Basically we need to continue this research of nanoparticles in ice to form clouds that can produce rain. Characterizing ice at a nanoscale level is a far more challenging process than it sounds to be. You have to have a completely flat piece of metal (they are using copper), and you have to have the right conditions for the specific ice.

This discovery has the potential to have one of the biggest impacts on Earth in recent history. Once you take a look at some of the drought trouble we have had recently it is obvious that the whole world would benefit from this scientific breakthrough. Poor families in Africa will finally stop dying from dehydration and starvation. I know I would have preferred some rain a couple years ago when I had a restricted amount of time I was allowed to be in the shower. Even if you look at this from an energy stand point, this discovery has benefits. When these scientists link up with some meteorologists, we could possibly put rain in areas where hydroelectric power is produced. These are the ways that this discovery of pentagonal ice crystals can change mine, and everyone else's life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090308142251.htm

"It's Raining Pentagons? Novel Ice Structure May Help Seed Clouds And Cause Rain." Science Daily. 8 Mar. 2009. 8 Mar. 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090308142251.htm .