University of Miami geologists have analyzed images based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations taken before and after Haiti's devastating  January 12 earthquake. The images reveal surprising new details that may help the island better mitigate future earthquakes.

According to the new data, the earthquake rupture did not reach the surface--unusual for an earthquake this size. More importantly, the images confirm that only the western half of the fault segment that last ruptured in 1751 actually ruptured in the current earthquake.

"We're still waiting for the other shoe to drop," said Tim Dixon, professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine&Atmospheric Science.

When we experience disasters like the earthquake in Haiti January 2010, we naturally ask the questions: Could we have known (early warning)? Could we have been prepared (mitigation plans)?



Haiti on the Hispaniola island in the Caribbean. Credit: USGS

Researchers analyzing recent data from the SPOT 5 and ASTER satellites say that previous studies have largely overestimated mass loss from Alaskan glaciers over the past 40 years. Writing in a recent issue of Nature Geoscience, the team suggests that mass loss in these glaciers contributed 0.12 mm/year to sea-level rise between 1962 and 2006, rather than 0.17 mm/year as previously estimated.

The new estimate was obtained by comparing recent topographies, derived from Spot 5-HRS (SPIRIT project with maps from the 1950-60s, which enabled loss from three quarters of the Alaskan glaciers to be measured.

The Price Of Arctic Ice

Putting an economic value on the loss of the Arctic's climate regulating abilities

A report by the Pew Environment Group entitled An Initial Estimate of the Cost of Lost Climate Regulation Services Due to Changes in the Arctic Cryosphere is an attempt by scientists to put a dollar value on the climate regulating services of the Arctic Cryosphere.

The report states:

In economic terms, estimated costs in 2010 from the decline in albedo and increase in methane emissions range from $61 billion to $371 billion.  By 2050, this number rises to a cumulative range of $2.4 trillion to $24.1 trillion.

From the Pew Trusts Newsroom:

"The Age of Stupid," a 2009 docudrama set in 2055, asks why didn't we save Earth when we had the chance. "Stupid" was first conceived by Director Franny Armstrong as a documentary integrating themes of excessive consumption, war and climate change. Armstrong began developing the idea in 2002 and began shooting in 2004.

Armstrong and Producer Lizzie Gillett sought out the main characters from seven countries: India airline founder Jeh Wadia; French mountain guide Fernand Pareau; New Orleans Shell Oil Company paleontologist Alvin Duvernay; English wind farm developer Piers Guy, Nigerian Layefa Malemi who wants to be a famous doctor; and Iraqi refugee children Jamila and Adnan Bayyoud who repair American's discarded shoes to sell on the streets of Jordan.

Arctic Melt 2010 Is Faster Than Models Predicted

The National Snow And Ice Data Center - NSISC - reports:

Despite cool temperatures over most of the Arctic Ocean in January, Arctic sea ice extent continued to track below normal. By the end of January, ice extent dropped below the extent observed in January 2007.
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While temperatures over much of the central Arctic Ocean were 1 to 3 degrees Celsius (2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) below normal, temperatures in the Kara and Barents seas were 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal. Ice extent was far below normal in the Kara and Barents seas, keeping the total Arctic sea ice extent below average.
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