UAF in the news: Week of July 31, 2006

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
08/04/06

Glacier melt rate a surprise
Juneau Empire
The glaciers of Southeast Alaska are shrinking twice as quickly as scientists had previously estimated, according to a new study. Read more ...

Comments sought on Sea Grant College programs
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Public comment is invited in advance of a review Sept. 10-14 of the NOAA Alaska Sea Grant College programs conducted from late 2001 to the present. The Sea Grant College program, headquartered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, includes marine research, education, outreach and advisory services. Read more ...

Mars’ dust storms may produce peroxide snow
Physorg.com and Mars Daily
The planet-wide dust storms that periodically cloak Mars in a mantle of red may be generating a snow of corrosive chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, that would be toxic to life, according to two new studies published in the most recent issue of the journal Astrobiology. Read more ...

Researchers: Climate change natural - not human caused
Frontiersman
Mike Sfraga, director of the University of Alaska geography program, and Bruce Molina, a geologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, have studied the Earth for decades, falling into crevasses along the way. Now, as part of their newly launched Bradford Washburn Glacier Repeat Photography Program, both scientists are watching closely as many of Alaska’s glaciers retreat, melting away into the mountains where they were born. Read more ...

Photography project retraces pioneer’s tracks
Frontiersman
Before they landed to fuel up in Palmer Thursday, the geologist and the geographer had already been on the trail of Bradford Washburn, a pioneer explorer. Read more ...

Augustine Volcano follows the script
Homer News
More than six months after Augustine Volcano erupted in January, the scientists who studied Homer’s backyard volcano can now look back and analyze its activity. Read more ...