The Impending Coastal Crisis By 2050, more than half of the U.S. population will live within a day’s drive of a coastline or lakeshore. But with sea-level rise and increasing storm intensity and frequency, is that development such a good idea? Nicholas K. Coch
Down with the Dams: Unchaining U.S. Rivers As dam permits expire and environmental considerations grow stronger, some operators are choosing to tear down the dams. Oregon’s Marmot Dam serves as an experiment, showing what can happen when a large dam is removed from a river. Jim O’Connor, Jon Major and Gordon Grant
Salinity in the Landscape: A Growing Problem in Australia
Print Exclusive In Australia and many other arid climates around the world, salinity is a growing problem. Whether brought about by groundwater, irrigation, land-use practices or encroaching seawater, researchers are working to help combat the problem before it's too late and farmland — and food sources — are lost. Pichu Rengasamy
Available exclusively in print... Battle over Bones in China
Pangea stayed put
A break between plate breakups?
Sierra Leone wants more from mining
Mineral resource of the month: vermiculite
BENCHMARKS March 1, 1872: Yellowstone National Park Established Print Exclusive
TRENDS & INNOVATIONS Fantastic Fossilized Finds Fill Farmhouse Print Exclusive An amateur paleontologist has amassed such a collection of important dinosaur footprints in his Maryland farmhouse that his floorboards are caving in. Mary Caperton Morton
EDUCATION & OUTREACH Bringing the Mars Science Laboratory into the Classroom A teacher has her students research and plan where NASA should land its next Mars rover. They picked the right sites before: Can they do it again? Nicole Branan
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A POLITICAL COMMENT ON... Oil: Is Now the Time to Fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Economics adds perspective to the discussion about whether President Bush’s plan to double the capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a good idea when oil prices are this high. Benjamin A. Eisterhold and Michael E. Webber
A COMMENT ON ... Mining: A New Challenge for the Philippines The Philippines holds some $90 million worth of minerals just waiting to be developed. However, a lot of issues remain before such development can occur. CP David
GEOLOGIC COLUMN Trash Talking Several new books have the author thinking about trash — how much we produce and just where it all goes. Fred Schwab