The US Geological Survey has a news release regarding climate during the mid-Pliocene Epoch, between 3.0 and 3.3 million years ago: Getting Warmer? Prehistoric Climate Can Help Forecast Future Changes. Scientists used paleontological data (i.e. fossils) to reconstruct surface water and deep-ocean temperatures, as well as ocean circulation patterns. Here are some of the findings: …
Continue reading The Pliocene as a model for the 21st century?
From UNESCO: Groundwater Resources of the World From the UNESCO press release: Despite its strategic importance, no global inventory of this resource had been compiled to date. Since 2000, UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) has been participating in the establishment of a groundwater database. It is now presenting a detailed map of transboundary aquifers – …
The preaching at the church we have been attending in Denver, Red Rocks Fellowship, has been consistently good. Here are two excerpts from today's sermon preached by Pastor Jack McCullough, which was on the birth of Jesus from Matthew 1:18-25. Someone has said this: "If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent …
Patterns in sedimentary layers on Mars could be the result of cyclical climate change caused by regular variations in the tilt of the planet's axis: Climate on Earth is controlled by similar cyclical changes in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt, which leads to alternating glacial and interglacial periods. LiveScience article: Mars Wobbles Created Climate …
Oh my... HT: Extreme Theology
The USGS has released a new geologic map of Crater Lake, Oregon: A good geologic map is a work of art. Grace and peace
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... Here's a probability map from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): The map is based on data from 1961 to 1990. Grace and Peace
Francis Schaeffer on the age of the Earth: What does day mean in the days of creation? The answer must be held with some openness. In Genesis 5:2 we read: "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." As it is clear …
I'm re-reading Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, subtitled "The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community." At 122 pages, it is not a long book, but it is a gem. I know that Bonhoeffer was a bit liberal theologically, but the Christ-centeredness of his writings puts to shame much of what goes on in Evangelicalism today. …
Name voyager: Pick a name, and see how common it was decade by decade for the past century. The name Kevin was rare before the 1920s, hit a peak in the 1960s, and has been on a decline since then. The really interesting thing is that Kevin was used as a girl's name in the …
GeoEye is a company that owns Earth-imaging satellites and provides imagery for commercial and government clients. They have a set of image galleries with imagery of natural and manmade features. Here are a couple images from their volcanoes gallery: Krakatoa, Indonesia: Nyiragongo, Congo: If you've used Google Earth, you've probably seen GeoEye imagery, as Google …
The Atlas of True Names has some rather strange-sounding places on it, such as New Wild Boar Village, The New Golden One, Moon Navel Gulf, and Sunday's Republic. These are all places you've heard of, and maybe even been to: The creators of these maps have gotten down to the root meanings of place names, …
I’ll ask some more easy questions: Would you rather have your child play the piano or play video games? Which will be more valuable for the child? Which will be more valuable for the world? From Asia Times: China’s six-to-one advantage over the US: Thirty-six million Chinese children study piano today, compared to only 6 …
I'll ask some easy questions: Would you rather have your child play outside or play video games? Which will be more valuable for the child? Which will be more valuable for the world? Headline: National Forest visitors down, no one knows why. In the years after World War II, Americans packed up their young families …
We spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Montana with my mother; it was the first time that I had been "home" for Thanksgiving in over twenty years. On Saturday, we found a new place to hike right on the edge of Billings: Four Dances Natural Area, administered by the BLM. It preserves 765 acres (310 ha) …
Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day: Radar Indicates Buried Glaciers on Mars. Explanation: What created this unusual terrain on Mars? The floors of several mid-latitude craters in Hellas Basin on Mars appear unusually grooved, flat, and shallow. New radar images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter bolster an exciting hypothesis: huge glaciers of buried ice. Evidence …
Last year I ran a series of posts with quotes from For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care by Steven Bouma-Prediger. This book develops a Biblical view of creation care that is neither Earth-centered nor man-centered, but God-centered. Because I have new readers of The GeoChristian, I periodically recycle previous …
Videos of a bolide (fireball) which appeared over Alberta and Saskatchewan last night. HT: Scyldings in the Mead-Hall Grace and Peace
The world has enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed. -- Mahatma Gandhi Grace and Peace
Scientists have identified features that could be glaciers at mid-latitudes on Mars. If this interpretation is correct, then these could contain a significant amount of water ice at a considerable distance from the poles. LiveScience: Buried Glaciers Found on Mars There is a cirque-like feature in the foreground (the bowl-shaped feature facing the camera at …
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