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December 2006 vol. 51, no. 12
FEATURES
18 CLIMATE: CLIMATE POLICY Wading Into Heated Politics: Q&A with Gerald North
The recent chair of a National Academy of Sciences committee to study climate change discusses the continuing controversy surrounding some key climate studies, including recent congressional hearings on the topic. Plus! A new public face for climate change, debate over storms, thawing ice and other climate stories
26 PALEONTOLOGY: MISSING LINKS Finding a Fishy Connection: Q&A with Jenny Clack
This year's discovery of a 375-million-year-old transitional fish fossil is changing how scientists think about the evolutionary transition from water to land. Plus! Filling in hominid gaps, probing into fossils, dinosaur finds and more paleontology stories
32 ENERGY: ENERGY ECONOMICS
Global Supply and Demand: Q&A with John Felmy The chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute discusses the oil market's ups and downs this year and how global events continue to shape prices. Plus!Offshore drilling still unresolved, BP's woes, tensions in Latin America and more energy stories
40 SPACE: ALIEN WORLDS Finding Earth Analogues in Space: Q&A with David Stevenson
A small moon orbiting Saturn that has unique Earth-like qualities, is the big planetary science story this year, according to one researcher. Plus! Titan's earthly features, new space technologies, Mars roundup and other space stories
46 NATURAL HAZARDS: DAMAGE CONTROL Watching for the Waves: Q&A with David Green
Efforts have ramped up this year to enable global tsunami warnings, and new technologies are helping, according to one tsunami program manager. Plus! Looking into landslides, levee concerns, spreading wildfire and more hazards stories
NEWS
& VIEWS 7
COMMENT
Don’t Prioritize: Mainstream Hazard Reduction Into Economic Development Aid
Geoscientists have a role to play in helping policy-makers and international aid organizations realize that funding natural hazards risk reduction programs is worthwhile. Arthur Lerner-Lam
8 NEWS NOTES
Mudflows inundate Indonesian villages *
Gold mine deposited rapidly *
Dates help paint picture of early migration *
Wobbling Earth linked to mammal extinctions *
Debate continues over dinosaur demise *
Lab experiment reveals earthquake ruptures * Cave discovery dazzles national park *
New explanation offered for Delphi trances *
Methane budget to become off-balance
17 POLITICAL SCENE
A Look Back at the 109th Congress: Like Oil and Water
Partisanship and a focus on emergency spending were largely to blame for Congress’ stalling on legislation to manage the long-term interests of U.S. resources. Linda Rowan
56 GEOPHENOMENA
African dust hampers storms
Stormy seas crack icebergs
60 ENERGY & RESOURCES Mineral resource of the month: Bismuth
OPEC cuts oil output
61 BENCHMARKS December 14, 1911: Amundsen makes it to the South Pole
62 GEOMEDIA Books: Holiday reading picks
On the Web: Earth science and geologic time visualized
66 PROFILES
Congressional science fellows: Broadening horizons
84 GEOLOGIC COLUMN
Why Fester? Let’s Sequester!
Learn how a coal enthusiast became a carbon sequestration booster. Fred Schwab
DEPARTMENTS 4 From
the Editor
6 Letters: Perspectives
from readers
54
Where on Earth?
68
GeoMarketplace
70
Classifieds: Career
opportunities
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